Game 19/82: Bulls (9-7) @ Celtics (14-4) Open Thread

Posted by Brendan Jackson on Dec 3, 2010 1161231 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F12%2F03%2Fgame-1982-bulls-9-7-celtics-14-4-open-thread%2FGame+19%2F82%3A+Bulls+%289-7%29+%40+Celtics+%2814-4%29+Open+Thread2010-12-03+23%3A51%3A43Brendan+Jacksonhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D11612

Chicago at Boston
8:00 P.M. ET
TD Garden
CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 109.2 points/100 possessions (9th)

Chicago: 105.0 points/100 possessions (21st)

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 100.8 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)

Chicago: 103.8 points allowed/100 possessions (9th)

Probable Chicago starters: Derrick Rose (PG), Keith Bogans (SG), Luol Deng (SF), Carlos Boozer (PF), Joakim Noah (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: By The Horns

THUMBNAIL

The Celtics take on a familiar foe tonight at Tom Thibedeu returns (again) to the TD Garden for his second crack at defeating his old team. Unfortunately for Thibs, he probably will not come out on top tonight. Both the Celtics and Bulls are coming off emotional games. The Celtics eeeked out a win that went down to the wire giving them an emotional high as Ray Allen swished that three with seconds to go. The Bulls…their emotions completely drained out of them as they got their tookuses handed to them by the Orlando Magic.

The Bulls have Carlos Boozer back for his second game of the season and judging by his first, there is still plenty of rust that needs to be knocked off. It was not just Boozer who played poorly. Celtic’s squasher Joakim Noah seemed poised to challenge Dwight Howard for Center dominance this year and completely whiffed on Wednesday. Noah failed to secure a rebound in 25 minutes. Here’s Matt McHale on Noah’s lack of window cleaning:

Do you know when the last time Noah went an entire game without grabbing a rebound? It was December 27, 2008, in a 129-117 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In that game, Noah logged five minutes and 35 seconds and finished with a five trillion. But there’s a world of difference between the Joakim of then and the Joakim of now. Before last night, Noah had never gone rebound-less in games in which he’d played at least eight minutes. What happened?

I guess he was poisoned.

Said Noah: “It’s frustrating. That’s my job, to rebound the basketball, and I wasn’t able to do that tonight.”

Needless to say, this will not happen to Noah tonight. In fact, I think he could grab at least 15 tonight. The Celtics do not usually fair well with active big men.

WHAT THE BULLS DO WELL

Block Shots? Okay so the Bulls have only played 16 games so their League numbers on Basketball-Reference are a little skewed (I think?). That said, the Bulls are 7th in the league in total blocked shots with 107 (Noah’s got 22 and Taj Gibson’s got 23).

The Bulls also outrebound their opponents by a pretty significant margin. So while Derrick Rose may get all the credit, the Bulls have a pretty awesome frontline, at least statistically.

WHAT THE BULLS DO POORLY

Shoot The Deep Ball. Despite picking up sharpshooter Kyle Korver and signing capable long-distance drainers in Keith Bogans and CJ Watson, the Bulls are struggling to find their stroke this year. The Bulls are sitting at the 24th spot when it comes to 3P% at .333. The Celtics? Number one baby (.407).

PLAYERS THAT MAKE ME WORRY

Derrick Rose….Joakim Noah…yadda yadda yadda…

Taj Gibson. Everyone knows what Noah and Rose do to opposing teams. Lots of teams overlook Gibson. Taj has been tearing it up this season and with the Celtics being weak defensively against stretch big men, look for Gibby to get a lot of open midrange looks.

PLAYERS THAT DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY

Carlos Boozer. Call me in a month Booz’ and I will give you a proper evaluation. Try to avoid gym bags in the meantime.

PREDICTION

Rajon Rondo has made it his personal mission to battle premier point guards for distribution supremacy. Look for him to go hard against Rose. Noah will have a bounce back game and secure double digit rebounds. Good for him, better for the Celtics as they will win this one fairly handily. It’s hard to work back a player that is suppose to be a big part of what you do.

Celtics 98, Bulls 87