Game Preview: Celtics v Bulls

The Chicago Bulls tangle with the Boston Celtics at TD Center on Sunday
afternoon. The Bulls (31-34) have dropped their last four games, with all but
one of the games a double-digit loss. The rough stretch has them sitting in the
10th spot in the Eastern Conference, one game back of the eighth-seeded
Milwaukee Bucks. Chicago was most recently on the wrong end of a 115-94 score
against the Houston Rockets on Friday night. Dwyane Wade paced the Bulls in his
return from a two-game absence due to a thigh injury, as he collected 21 points,
three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jimmy Butler totaled 16 points, five
rebounds, four assists and one steal. Cameron Payne led the bench with 11
points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Bobby Portis produced eight
points, six rebounds and one steal, while Paul Zipser, Rajon Rondo and Denzel
Valentine all matched Portis’ point total off the bench. Now that Wade has made
his return, Chicago will check in to Sunday’s contest without any injuries of
note. The Celtics (41-25) have been a bit on the shaky side lately as well, as
they’ve come up on the losing end in three of their past four contests during
their Western Conference swing. That’s actually temporarily dropped them into
the third seed in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the top dog
Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston looked sluggish in their most recent loss, 119-99
drubbing at the hands of the Denver Nuggets on Friday evening. They turned the
ball over 18 times and also lost the rebounding battle by a 49-33 margin. Isaiah
Thomas led the way, but even he was a bit less active than usual. He provided 21
points, five assists, two rebounds and one steal. Avery Bradley chipped in with
16 points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals. Al Horford provided 15
points, five boards, two assists and one steal. Jaylen Brown totaled 14 points,
two boards and one assist. Marcus Smart was productive in a reserve role as
well, generating a typically full stat line of 13 points, seven rebounds, two
assists and one steal. The Celtics will likely list James Young as questionable
with his back injury. Sunday’s game will mark the fourth and final meeting
between the teams this season. Chicago has notched 105-99 and 104-103 victories
at United Center, while the Celtics prevailed by a 107-100 score in the previous
game in Boston.