Celtics-Bulls Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Apr 04 2012 11:59PM

After back-to-back losses, the Chicago Bulls received some good news regarding Derrick Rose. Despite the team's recent struggles, however, Rose is being cautious about returning too soon.

Rose will be a game-time decision Thursday night when the Bulls host the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Celtics.

Chicago has been without Rose for 21 games this season, including the last 11 for a groin injury. The Bulls (42-13) are 7-4 during the latest stretch, losing the last two for their first two-game skid of the season.

Rose could return as soon as Thursday, though. He practiced Wednesday, taking contact for the first time since the injury. Still, he wasn't ready to declare himself ready to go against Boston.

"I really don't know. I felt good, but me playing tomorrow, I don't know. I'm able to run a little bit more, but not at my top speed," Rose said.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose has been increasing his activity each day and said whether he'd go Thursday would depend on how Rose felt in the morning.

"His speed and quickness looked really good," Thibodeau said. "It was very encouraging."

Rose's return can't come soon enough for the Bulls, who lost 92-78 at Oklahoma City on Sunday, then failed to protect a 13-point, third-quarter lead in a 99-93 home loss to Houston on Monday.

The consecutive defeats ended their 86-game regular-season run without back-to-back losses.

Luol Deng led Chicago with 24 points while Carlos Boozer had 16 points and 13 rebounds against the Rockets. The Bulls, two-games in front of Miami for first place in the Eastern Conference, had 19 turnovers and allowed Houston to shoot 55.8 percent in the second half.

"Right now I'm disappointed in the way our team is playing," Thibodeau said. "One thing I know about this league is that things change quickly. ... We have Boston coming in who is playing great basketball. Every night you have to be ready to fight."

Rose has missed the last two games against the Celtics (30-23), which the teams split, after playing in Chicago's 88-79 win in January. All three games have been defensive battles, with Boston averaging 84.7 points and the Bulls 89.3.

The Celtics have been impressive defensively recently despite having a five-game winning streak snapped with an 87-86 loss to red-hot San Antonio on Wednesday.

Boston rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half, but Paul Pierce's potential game-winning shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

"I think I got to a good place. Just missed the shot," Pierce said. "These things are not really pre-scripted. You get into pressure situations, sometimes they make and sometimes they don't."

Ray Allen returned after missing six games with a sore right ankle and had five points and seven rebounds. Avery Bradley scored a team-high 19 points and Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists.

While the Celtics have held 10 straight opponents under 100 points, Wednesday was not their best effort. They gave up 59 points in the first half - 32 in the second quarter - and were outrebounded 53-39.

Boston, which has won 15 of 21, will try to bounce back Thursday - a task that could be easier if Rose is out. The league's reigning MVP has averaged 28.0 points and 6.8 assists his last six games against the Celtics, including 25 and seven in January's victory.

Likewise, Rajon Rondo had his best game against the Bulls with Rose out, scoring 32 points to go along with 15 assists and 10 rebounds in a 95-91 win Feb. 12.

Deng, Noah lead Rose-less Bulls past Celtics

Posted Apr 06 2012 1:46AM

CHICAGO (AP) Even without the league's reigning MVP for a major part of the season, the Chicago Bulls have kept up their winning ways.

Luol Deng scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half and Joakim Noah added 17 points and nine rebounds to rally the Chicago Bulls to a 93-86 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

The Bulls again played without Derrick Rose, out due to a strained groin for the 12th consecutive game. Chicago, which has been without Rose for 22 games this season, improved to 15-7 in his absence - including 8-4 during the latest stretch.

"I think the big thing is you look at what you have. Our team has shown all year that we have great fight and we believe we can win with whoever we have out there and they have shown that all year," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Noah will be glad have Rose back, but does not want the Bulls to get complacent when Rose returns to the lineup.

"We definitely want Derrick back out there, he helps, but even when Derrick comes back it's not going to be easy," Noah said. "We have a long road ahead, a lot of games, a lot of battles. With Derrick back we have to play hungry. When we play hungry, we're tough to beat."

The Bulls rallied from 13 points down in the first half and pulled away in the fourth quarter to end their first two-game losing streak of the season. Trailing by 11 at halftime, Chicago outscored Boston 55-37 after the break - which had Celtics coach Doc Rivers steaming after the game.

"I had to use two timeouts ... to remind us that we are actually having an NBA game tonight," said Rivers. "I thought this was the worst loss for us this year the way we approached the game."

Paul Pierce scored 22 points for Boston, who has lost two in a row after a winning a season-high five straight. Pierce had only one point in the fourth quarter.

"That was an unacceptable effort for us. I don't say that very often. I don't think I've ever said that before," said Rivers.

Besides Deng's offense, he was also a factor in Pierce's struggles in the fourth quarter.

"He made a lot of big plays for us. We needed the scoring and that's what he provided. He had a tough matchup with Pierce, he's going to make you work," Thibodeau said.

Rose, who last played March 12 in a win against New York, was a game-time decision. He practiced on Wednesday, taking contact for the first time since the injury, and said afterwards he was optimistic he will be able to play against the Knicks on Sunday.

"Obviously we are excited to get Derrick back as soon as possible, but we just need him back right," said Noah.

Leading 74-73 in the fourth, Taj Gibson and Deng had back-to-back baskets, and after Avery Bradley's steal and layup for Boston, Kyle Korver made a 3 to give Chicago a 81-75 lead with about 7 minutes remaining.

Later in the quarter, Deng had eight points during a 10-4 run that was capped by Carlos Boozer's dunk to put the Bulls up 91-81 with 1:42 left.

The Celtics gave the Bulls a little scare in the final two minutes. Rajon Rondo had a breakaway layup and Ray Allen's 3-pointer was changed to a 2 after a replay, pulling Boston to 91-86 with 42.3 left. Rondo missed a 3 with 10 seconds left that would've cut the Celtics' deficit to three points.

"We had a good lead. They didn't have their star (Rose) in the game. But they've won a lot of games without him. So you can't take them for granted," said Pierce.

C.J. Watson finished with 15 points and Boozer had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago.

Trailing 56-47 with 8:10 left in the third quarter, the Bulls scored eight straight points to cut Boston's lead to one. After Brandon Bass' putback dunk, Watson made back-to-back 3s to give Chicago a 61-58 lead with 3:42 to go in the period.

Leading 38-33, the Celtics went on a 11-3 run late in the second quarter, capped by Rondo's runner that gave the Celtics a 13-point lead. Watson made two free throws to cut the Celtics lead to 49-38 at halftime.

Rondo had 10 points and 12 assists for Boston after an 87-86 loss to the Spurs at home on Wednesday night.

NOTES: Allen came off the bench for the fifth time in his career. He scored 14 points. Before playing on Wednesday, Allen missed six games with a sore right ankle.

Notebook: Bulls 93, Celtics 86

Posted Friday April 6, 2012 1:14AM

By Kent McDill, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: After falling behind by 13 late in the first half, the Chicago Bulls locked down the visiting Boston Celtics in the second half and recorded a 93-86 victory Thursday at the United Center. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points, 18 in the second half. Chicago's Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Joakim Noah had 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Bulls. Paul Pierce had 22 points for the Celtics, while Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Rajon Rondo had 10 points and 12 assists.

THE STAT: The Bulls trailed by 11 at halftime, but took 12 more shots than the Celtics in the second half thanks to nine offensive rebounds.

THE STAT II: The Bulls committed eight first-half turnovers but only had four more in the second half.

THE STAT III: The Bulls finished the game with eight blocked shots while the Celtics had just two.

QUOTABLE: "We just played more inspired.''
-- Bulls center Joakim Noah, talking about the second half of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "We're not going to go places with that kind of mental toughness. It was a crime. We just thought we were cool tonight. We were the cool Celtics. No one wanted to work."
-- Boston coach Doc Rivers.

TURNING POINT: The Bulls erased the 49-38 halftime deficit in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, including eight straight points just before Watson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 58.

THE MOMENT: In front of the TNT national audience, the game had a remarkable 30-second stretch in the fourth quarter. With the Bulls up 81-77, Bulls guard C.J. Watson stole a pass from Paul Pierce and took off on a fast break. He missed his layup, Luol Deng missed a putback, the Celtics got the ball but at the Boston end Noah blocked Pierce at the basket, and Deng scored on a fast break layup for a six-point Bulls lead with four minutes remaining.

INJURY UPDATE: After playing the guessing game with the media before the game, the Bulls did not use guard Derrick Rose for the 12th straight game because of his sore right groin. Rose said he would definitely play against the New York Knicks on Sunday in Madison Square Garden. Rip Hamilton had his best game of three since coming back from a shoulder injury, scoring nine points with three assists and three rebounds with no turnovers. In his second game back from a sore ankle, Ray Allen came off the bench and scored 14 points in 31 minutes (Avery Bradley started for him and scored nine points in 27 minutes).

QUOTABLE III: "I don't know if it was tired legs or mental weakness, but we didn't come out and put this team away like we should have when we were up 11."
-- Boston forward Paul Pierce.

HOT: Joakim Noah had his second straight great game. In the two contests he has made 12-for-17 shots, grabbed nine rebounds in each, and has had seven blocked shots.

NOTABLE: With the victory, the Bulls avoided their first three-game losing streak in the regular season since March of 2010 when they lost 10 games in a row... the Celtics have lost five straight regular season games at the United Center... When Ray Allen did not start Thursday, it was only the fourth time in his career he has played in a game when he did not start.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, @ New York Sunday, vs. New York Tuesday, vs. Miami Thursday. For the Celtics, @ Indiana Saturday, vs. Philadelphia Sunday, at Miami Tuesday.

• Celtics: O'Neal, Pietrus
• Bulls: Rose

• Celtics: Garnett
• Bulls: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #20 Leroy Richardson, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 22423
• Duration: 2:35