Game Preview: Celtics v Bulls

The Boston Celtics will play the visiting Chicago Bulls in Game 2 of the Eastern
Conference first-round playoffs Saturday at TD Garden. The No. 1 seeded Celtics
(0-1) are coming off a letdown performance in Game 1 after they entered the
playoffs as winners of three straight games. On an emotional night for Isaiah
Thomas, who is coping with the loss of his 22-year-old sister, Boston was unable
to overcome Jimmy Butler and the No. 8 Bulls (1-0). Thomas did end up with the
better performance, as he shot 10-of-18 from the field en route to scoring a
game-high 33 points, while Butler finished with 30 points on 9-of-19 shooting,
but the Chicago swingman managed to make enough crucial plays down the stretch
to get his team to victory. Now, while there was some doubt surrounding Thomas’
status for Game 2, as there was speculation he may return home to Seattle, the
point guard will play in Tuesday’s game with the team in a must-win situation.
As for the Bulls, while Butler carried them down the stretch of Sunday’s
victory, the main reason for the win was their ability to attack the glass.
Boston was one of the worst rebounding teams in all of the NBA this season, and
Chicago found a way to take full advantage. The Bulls out-rebounded the Celtics
by 17 Monday, but more importantly, they managed to snag 20 offensive rebounds
— almost as many as Boston had on the defensive side (24). In the four games
the teams played this season (they split the series 2-2), the Bulls
out-rebounded the Celtics in three of them, and across all four games, Chicago
won the rebounding battle by a total of 28 boards. In their two victories, they
were plus-39 in rebounding margin, and they’ll look to assert themselves on the
glass once again in Game 2.