Celtics (16-2) at Bulls (6-11) 12/8

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (16-2) at Chicago Bulls (6-11)
Saturday, December 8
Regular season game #19, Away game #9
TV: NBA LP ch 755, WGN, CSN
United Center



Probable Starters

Rajon Rondo/Ray Allen/Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett/Kendrick Perkins

Off the Bench
James Posey, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, Brian Scalabrine, Big Baby Davis, Leon Powe

Key Player off the Bench

Posey has been playing big off the bench and is coming off a double double against the Raptors. He has been very efficient from beyond the arc and his defense off the bench is key.

Injuries
None


Probable Starters

Kirk Hinrich /Ben Gordon/ Luol Deng/ Joe Smith/ Ben Wallace

Off the Bench
Chris Duhon, Andres Nociani, Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Thabo Sefolosha

Key Player Off the Bench

Nociani can come off the bench and put up points quickly. He keeps the energy up with the second unit.

Injuries
None



Key Matchups
vs
Paul Pierce PPG 20.9 | RPG 5.4 | APG 5.2
Luol Deng PPG 17.7 | RPG 6.6 | APG 1.5

vs
Kendrick Perkins PPG 7.6 | RPG 5.1 | BPG 1.4
Ben Wallace PPG 4.6 | RPG 8.5 | BPG 1.4

Keys to the Game
1. Rebound. The Bulls are 6th in the NBA in rebounds and 1st in offensive rebounds. The Celtics need to concentrate on boxing out and beating the Bulls to the boards.

2. Energy for 48 Minutes. In several games the Celtics have either started out strong and then fizzled, losing big leads or they have come out sluggish and just barely pulled out the win. The Celtics need to play hard for 48 minutes and build a lead and keep it.

3. Defense. The Bulls can hurt you both inside and out. Perk will need to keep Wallace out of the paint and off the boards. The Celtics will also need to defend on the perimeter as the Bulls have several weapons from the outside as well.

Game Notes
Both teams are playing in the second of back to back games and both had to travel to get to the game. The Celtics had an easy game against the Raptors and the starters all played 28 minutes or less in the game. The Bulls won a tight game against Detroit with their starters having to play big minutes. Heinrich played 42 minutes, Deng played 38 minutes and Wallace played 36 miinutes. The Celtics could run them and make fatigue a factor in this game.

As stated above, the Bulls are a very good rebounding team. Over their last 5 games they have out rebounded their opponents 247-178 overall and 85-45 on the offensive end. The Celtics are going to have to work hard to grab rebounds or the Bulls will kill us on second chance points.

The Celtics lead the Bulls 101-83 in the all time series between these two teams but the Bulls have won the last 8 games between them. The Bulls have started out slowly but they are a dangerous team. They beat the Pistons in Detroit and are capable of beating any team, including the Celtics, on any given night. The Celtics will need to bring their A-game to win this one.
_________________