Game #56 - Bulls vs Celtics Thread

[bullsger]

vs


Game 56, Home Game 28
Thursday, April 5, 2012 – 8:30 PM CT
United Center
TNT / ESPN 1000 AM / WRTO 1200 AM

BULLS VS. CELTICS ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME ....................Bulls trail 90-112
BULLS CURRENT STREAK........ 1 Win
BULLS HOME STREAK..............4 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK ..............1 Loss

BULLS VS. CELTICS THIS SEASON
Jan. 13 @ Boston – BULLS WON 88-79
Feb. 12 @ Boston – CELTICS WON 95-91
Feb. 16 @ Chicago – BULLS WON 89-80
April 5 @ Chicago –

Game Notes



Chicago Bulls (42-13)
Home 21-6
Road 21-7

Bulls Averages:
PPG: 96.8 (Opp: 88.8)
RPG: 46.07 (Opp: 39.98)
APG: 23.0 (Opp: 19.5)
SPG: 7.06 (Opp: 7.31)
BPG: 5.84 (Opp: 5.18)
TO: 13.98 (Opp: 13.31)
FG%: .455 (Opp: .428)
FT%: .722 (Opp: .738)
3p%: .378 (Opp: .332)

Probable Bulls starters


CJ Watson - PG -
Richard Hamilton - SG -
Luol Deng - SF -
Carlos Boozer - PF -
Joakim Noah - C -

Bulls Stats Leaders
Points:Rose 22.8, Boozer 15.4
Rebounds: Noah 9.8, Boozer 8.4
Assists: Rose 8.0, Watson 3.8
Steals: Brewer 1.09, Deng & Boozer 1.00
Blocks: Noah 1.38, Gibson 1.21

FG%: Boozer .537, Asik .522
FT%: Lucas .833, Korver .828
3FG%: Korver .429, Watson .410

Injury report
Derrick Rose (right groin) is day- to-day.

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.



Boston Celtics (30-23)
Home 19-9
Road 11-14

Probable Celtics starters
Rajon Rondo - PG
Ray Allen - SG
Paul Pierce - SF
Brandon Bass - PF
Kevin Garnett - C

Injury report
Jermaine O’Neal - Left Wrist Surgery - Out
Mickael Pietrus - Head Injury - Day-to-Day

[taco_daddy]

Can't watch the game. Box Score says Rose is inactive, so I assume he's not playing tonight.

Can we win? Boston looked impressive against the Heat last Sunday. I'm starting to have a different opinion of these old geezers.

[Pay Ton]

Yeah, Rose isn't playing.

Don't know if I agree with you on Boston.

It seems to me that every team in the East outside of us and Miami are streaky in that they'll look horrible at times, and they'll look great at others. Boston's just getting their moment right now.

With the Orlando tank job that's going on (they've fallen to the six seed), that first seed is looking more and more tempting.

A first round matchup against the Knicks and a possible second round matchup against the Celtics/Hawks? I'll gladly take that over the Sixers and Pacers/Magic combo.

[taco_daddy]

Originally Posted by Pay Ton

Yeah, Rose isn't playing.

Well, if they kept him out for extra rest I'm not mad. We need Rose to be as recovered as can be. He's carried us for 3 years, now we can expect the other guys to carry some of the load while Rose recovers.

Originally Posted by Pay Ton

Don't know if I agree with you on Boston. It seems to me that every team in the East outside of us and Miami are streaky in that they'll look horrible at times, and they'll look great at others. Boston's just getting their moment right now.

I guess. They're up on us by 11 at the half (49 - 38). Although, the Spurs were just one game behind us last year in win totals and them old senior citizens went out in the first round.

Originally Posted by Pay Ton

With the Orlando tank job that's going on (they've fallen to the six seed), that first seed is looking more and more tempting. A first round matchup against the Knicks and a possible second round matchup against the Celtics/Hawks? I'll gladly take that over the Sixers and Pacers/Magic combo.

I agree. We struggled against the Hawks, but I think it was still a given that we'd win.

[taco_daddy]

71 - 68 Bulls at the start of the 4th. Good comeback.

[jnrjr79]

Hell of a game so far.

[King Joseus]

Originally Posted by jnrjr79

Hell of a game so far.

Yep. I've liked the second half much better.

[Pay Ton]

Huge win for a handful of reasons. Ends the two game slide and all but assures us home court in the first round (Magic, Hawks, and Celtics can't lose one game the rest of the season). Puts a half a game distance on the Heat, and makes Rose/Thibs a little less anxious than I'm sure they already are to see Rose out on the floor.

The more games we win, the less need to rush Rose back.

[Rhyder]

Great game by the Bulls minus Rose.

Rip looked much better out there tonight than he did in his comeback. I really hope he can get up to 28-30 minutes in the rotation by the time the playoffs start. The offense looks so much better with him on the floor, with and without Rose.

Noah was a beast. Boozer was for the most part as well.

Deng found his shooting touch late, and really bothered Pierce all game.

Omer still clumsy.

CJ had his ups and downs, but was better than his recent streak of down games. He really does look like he is playing hurt.

[narek]

Originally Posted by Rhyder

Great game by the Bulls minus Rose.

Rip looked much better out there tonight than he did in his comeback. I really hope he can get up to 28-30 minutes in the rotation by the time the playoffs start. The offense looks so much better with him on the floor, with and without Rose.

Noah was a beast. Boozer was for the most part as well.

Deng found his shooting touch late, and really bothered Pierce all game.

Omer still clumsy.

CJ had his ups and downs, but was better than his recent streak of down games. He really does look like he is playing hurt.

I really liked that play late in the fourth quarter (less than two minutes to go), when the Bulls passed the ball around and ended up with a Boozer dunk. The Celtics were so focused on Luol, they left Boozer with a clear path, and Deng saw it. Keeping the ball moving paid off.

[jnrjr79]

Originally Posted by King Joseus

Yep. I've liked the second half much better.

Ain't that the truth. It wasn't always pretty in the 2nd half, but the energy was just fantastic compared to the first. Luol was having such an ugly game and then really turned it around and bailed the Bulls out left and right. And the starting bigs showed up nicely.

I'm ready to have Derrick back, but the Bulls have shown pretty impressive toughness in his absence.

[yodurk]

This was really a great game, especially the 2nd half.

Was very excited to see that Rip Hamilton showed nice signs of shaking off the rust compared to his last game. 20 minutes was just the right amount of PT as well. He is so much better than Ronnie on offense it is ridiculous.

Noah played some great D, Boozer dominated the boards and had some timely buckets, and Deng looked like his old (non-injured) self for a half.

The timing of a Rose return feels just right...10 games to sharpen up for the playoffs, just about everyone healthy again (knock on wood, fingers crossed, and whatever the hell else I need to say to prevent our 174th injury this y ear).

[mvP to the Wee]

Deng is clutch

[Marcus13]

Originally Posted by mvP to the Wee

Deng is clutch

That was one of the better offensive games I've seen Deng play. He was making some real tough shots down the stretch, awesome performance