Bulls (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Game 1 4/16/17

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Chicago Bulls (0-0) at Boston Celtics (0-0)
Sunday, April 16, 2017
6:30 PM ET
Playoff Game [HASH]1, Home Game [HASH]1
TV: TNT, CSNNE, CSCHI
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WLUP FM97
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Rajon Rondo

Shooting Guard
vs
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade

Small Forward
vs
Jae Crowder vs Jimmy Butler

Power Forward
vs
Amir Johnson vs Nikola Mirotic

Center
vs
Al Horford vs Robin Lopez



Reserves
Gerald Green
Demetrius Jackson
Jonas Jerebko
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
Tyler Zeller
Kelly Olynyk
Marcus Smart
Jaylen Brown
James Young

Injuries
None Reported

Head Coach
Brad Stevens

Reserves
Jerian Grant
Isaiah Canaan
Michael Carter-Williams
Christiano Felicio
Joffrey Lauvergne
Bobby Portis
Denzel Valentine
Paul Zipser
Cameron Payne

Injuries
None Reported

Head Coach
Fred Hoiberg

Game Notes
The Celtics host Rajon Rondo and the 8th seeded Chicago Bulls to begin their playoff run. These two teams tied the season series 2-2. The predictions for this series vary greatly. Some feel that the Bulls have the best chance of upsetting the Celtics in the first round while others feel that the Celtics will close it out in 5 games.

The Celtics for their part are using all the doubters and all those who are calling the Celtics the worst 1st seed in playoff history as motivation to play even harder in this series. They have not made it past the first round in the past two seasons and very much want to go deep into the playoffs this season.

The Celtics won 17 of their last 20 home games and so home court may be very important. The Bulls were 16-25 on the road while the Celtics were 30-11 at the Garden. In the series this season, each team won on their home court. However, the fact that the game is on TNT may be even more important. Chicago won their last 20 games aired on TNT. This includes a game that they won against the Celtics that came down to a very questionable foul on Marcus Smart with 0.9 seconds left that gave the Bulls a 1 point win.

Both teams are healthy with no injuries listed for either team. Rondo and Wade are both coming off of injuries but are well enough to play in this game. In fact, Wade's injury kept him on the sidelines for 3 weeks and so he should be well rested for this game. Isaiah Thomas will be playing in spite of the fact that his sister, Chyna, was killed in an auto accident on Saturday morning.


Key Matchups
vs
Jae Crowder vs Jimmy Butler
Butler averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game in the regular season. These two players are former Marquette teammates and good friends off the court but on the court, they are very competitive opponents. Butler averaged 20.3 points against the Celtics this season. Since the All Star break, Butler has averaged 43.8% from beyond the arc. Jae has had some success in guarding Butler this season. With Jae on the court, Butler has a -9.3 net rating but with Jae off the court, Butler's net rating is +6.6.

vs
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade
Wade tends to up his game in the playoffs and so Avery needs to up his defense on him as well. Wade averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals in the regular season. Wade sat out much of the final 3 weeks of the season with an elbow injury but came back just in time to be well rested and ready for the playoffs. Avery will have his hands bull but has proved in the past that he is up to it.

Honorable Mention
Isaiah Thomas vs Rajon Rondo
This may actually be the most important match up for the Celtics. We all have seen the phenomenon known as "National TV Rondo." The Celtics need Isaiah to step up and continue his dominant play from the regular season but Jimmy Butler has already said that he wants the task of guarding Isaiah and so that will make it more difficult for Isaiah to get open. He will need to make good decisions and make the right plays when he is unable to get his shots off. Rondo is not known as a scorer, but since the All Star break, he has been shooting 46.3% from beyond the arc and so it will be on Isaiah to step up his defense and keep Rondo from having a big offensive game.

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Celtics have some very good defenders and could have one of the top defensive teams in the league, however, for much of the season they have not played very good defense. We saw them lock down the Golden State Warriors, who have the highest scoring offense in the league but then struggle to contain the Nuggets and the Suns. The Bulls finished the season 6th in the league with a defensive rating of 104.5. The Celtics finished the season 12th with a defensive rating of 105.5. Each player needs to make defense a priority and be sure to have each others' backs on team defense. When the Celtics lock down on defense, they are very tough to beat. They must make defense a priority.

Rebound - The Bulls are a very good rebounding team. They out-rebounded the Celtics by 39 rebounds in their 2 wins against the Celtics this season. They also outscored the Celtics 40-9 in 2nd chance points in those two wins against the Celtics. The Bulls were 4th best offensive rebounding team before the trade deadline but after trading Taj Gibson, they dropped to 17th. This should give the Celtics a bit of hope. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and so the Celtics must put out the extra effort on the boards to give themselves extra possessions as well as to limit the Bulls fast break opportunities and second chance points.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be aggressive on both ends of the court. They have to be the more aggressive team going for loose balls, on defense, on the boards, and in going to the hoop. They have to start the game strong and keep playing hard until the final buzzer. They have to be the team that is more aggressive and that plays harder for all 48 minutes.

Be Smart on Offense - The Celtics need to move the ball to find the open man for easier shots. They have to take open shots when they get them and not be too unselfish. The Bulls are 6th in the league in defending the 3point line and allow just 9.0 per game and so if their 3's aren't falling, the Celtics need to take the ball inside. The other Celtics must make their shots because Isaiah can't do it all himself.

X-Factors
Home Court- The Celtics worked to get home court throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. They have played well at home this season with a 30-11 record and they won 17 of their last 20 home games. The Celtics need to draw energy from the home crowd that should be wild and loud.

TNT Bulls - The Bulls have won their last 20 games on TNT and this series just happens to be on TNT. One of those 20 wins was against the Celtics when, with 0.9 seconds left and the Celtics ahead by 1, the refs called a phantom foul on Marcus Smart to give the Bulls the win. I'm not sure what forces are conspiring to give them a boost in TNT games, but the Celtics have to play extra well to counter them, whatever they may be.

Officiating - Officiating will always be an x-factor. Some crews call every little bit of contact that takes the flow out of the game. Some crews let them play. Some refs have an agenda against a team, a coach or a player. All of these things can alter the way a game is played and the ability of a team to play well. As I have stated above, the referees made a controversial call on the last play in a game between these two teams that robbed the Celtics of the win and handed it to the Bulls. Hopefully they call the game fairly in this one and let them play.

[jmost]

I'm real interested in seeing in how this group reacts now that the playoffs have begun. I don't think the Bulls are particularly afraid of them, so it's going to be important to take this first game.

I'm very happy that AB is back and seemingly healthy. He has a real knack for containing Wade.

IT is in a hard place after his sister's death. It would be understandable if his mind was elsewhere, but I hope he can compartmentalize well enough to focus once the game starts. I know it's selfish, but we need him to play well.

[DERRENMATTS]

I'm so done with Olynyk. We need a massive influx of toughness and talent down low.

[DERRENMATTS]

Our need for scorers should be at the top of the list.

[afceltic]

Apr 16, 2017 18:44:10 GMT -5 DERRENMATTS said:

Our need for scorers should be at the top of the list.

Yep, we need to offer the max to Hayward and then draft a shooter. If Hayward loves Utah that much to turn down a max contract to play for his college coach, we need to upgrade by trade. Sorry Jae, you feelings may have been hurt, but you are not a starter on a contender. He's a Posey "light" type of bench player.

We also have to hope that the overseas guys can rebound and protect the basket because we are way too soft with what we have now. If they don't, then we may have to trade for someone who can. We need at least one guy who can rebound and play defense down low, which we also don't have right now. KO brings some offense to the table, but not much else. Horford will stay because of the contract and his ability in other aspects of the game, but nobody else is worth anything. Overall outside of Horford, the rest can be parted with minimal impact.

[afceltic]

Another thing is that hopefully two guys that I haven't heard of don't shoot lights out for Chicago anymore as those guys saved the Bulls tonight.

[DERRENMATTS]

Apr 16, 2017 20:25:05 GMT -5 afceltic said:

Apr 16, 2017 18:44:10 GMT -5 DERRENMATTS said:

Our need for scorers should be at the top of the list.

Yep, we need to offer the max to Hayward and then draft a shooter. If Hayward loves Utah that much to turn down a max contract to play for his college coach, we need to upgrade by trade. Sorry Jae, you feelings may have been hurt, but you are not a starter on a contender. He's a Posey "light" type of bench player.

We also have to hope that the overseas guys can rebound and protect the basket because we are way too soft with what we have now. If they don't, then we may have to trade for someone who can. We need at least one guy who can rebound and play defense down low, which we also don't have right now. KO brings some offense to the table, but not much else. Horford will stay because of the contract and his ability in other aspects of the game, but nobody else is worth anything. Overall outside of Horford, the rest can be parted with minimal impact.

And I don't even feel you are over-reacting to this loss either. These are legitimate issues that need to be addressed going forward.

I hope Paul George is a serious target of ours.

[afceltic]

Apr 16, 2017 20:38:57 GMT -5 DERRENMATTS said:

Apr 16, 2017 20:25:05 GMT -5 afceltic said:

Yep, we need to offer the max to Hayward and then draft a shooter. If Hayward loves Utah that much to turn down a max contract to play for his college coach, we need to upgrade by trade. Sorry Jae, you feelings may have been hurt, but you are not a starter on a contender. He's a Posey "light" type of bench player.

We also have to hope that the overseas guys can rebound and protect the basket because we are way too soft with what we have now. If they don't, then we may have to trade for someone who can. We need at least one guy who can rebound and play defense down low, which we also don't have right now. KO brings some offense to the table, but not much else. Horford will stay because of the contract and his ability in other aspects of the game, but nobody else is worth anything. Overall outside of Horford, the rest can be parted with minimal impact.

And I don't even feel you are over-reacting to this loss either. These are legitimate issues that need to be addressed going forward.

I hope Paul George is a serious target of ours.

I would love to have George in Celtic green, but I really don't think he wants to be here and the Pacers are asking for way too much for him. That is why I think Hayward is our best option. That leaves us everyone on board in a possible trade for a big guy. I guess the other way to go is to sign Cousins and then trade for George. Either way we need better players if we want to be serious contenders.

[DERRENMATTS]

Especially if we're going to try and win a title with IT and Horford.

Hayward does help offensively, and he is a key player of a really good Jazz defense, so what that tells me is even if he's not a stout individual defender, he at least can play some team defensive concepts.

[Roadrunner]

Bad loss. BOS is the better team.

[afceltic]

Watched some replays and the proof as to have soft our "bigs" are is on the layup that Butler had to put the game away. He was allowed to the front of the rim and nobody even tried to foul him to make him earn it at the FT line. They just let him make the basket and the part that really sucks is that it was Al who was the one who half-assed attempted to block it and let him go and he isn't going anywhere for another three seasons.

I know the game has gotten soft overall, but you never jut let a guy score to put the game away with an uncontested layup. I miss the days of McHale close lining Rambis and it was just a "hard playoff foul"

[DERRENMATTS]

Hopefully Zizic will help in that area. Hopefully we're going to go after blue collar, Kendrick Perkins type of bigs. No more softees like Olynyk and Zeller.

[jmost]

I think Zizic and Yabusele will help on the boards, so I'm looking for scoring and playmaking. We just seem lost on offense when IT is on the bench. None from among Smart, AB or Rozier is a real PG, and we just don't get good shots. If we don't draft one of the top PGs, I think we need to trade for a decent veteran backup PG. Maybe Demetrius Jackson will turn into something but I don't really see it.

Guys like Crowder and AB, and even Brown (yet), will be so much better with someone who can create shots for them. They just can't create much for themselves.

I'd agree that many of the bigs other than Horford won't be back next year. I hate to quote Pat Riley, but he wasn't far off when he said "No rebounds, no rings."