Celtics-Bulls Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Nov 11 2012 5:18PM

Already without former MVP Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls may have to move on without his replacement as well.

That could make things a whole lot easier for Rajon Rondo on Monday night when the Boston Celtics visit Chicago.

The Bulls (4-2) might have to play without starting point guard Kirk Hinrich after he suffered a strained right hip in the first half of Saturday's 87-80 win over Minnesota. Hinrich, who signed in July to help fill in while Rose recovers from knee surgery, is day to day.

Former Celtic Nate Robinson, who scored 18 points off the bench against the Timberwolves, would likely handle most of the point guard duties if Hinrich sits out. Rookie Marquis Teague, Chicago's first-round pick in June, could also contribute.

"I think our bench did a great job," Robinson said. "We come to practice ready to play and we've got our starting five's back."

The Bulls' backcourt faces the difficult task of trying to defend Rondo, the NBA's assist leader at 13.3 per game.

Rondo played a key role in finding Paul Pierce (25 points) and Kevin Garnett (18) for open looks down the stretch Saturday night as Boston (3-3) captured its third win in four games with a 96-92 victory at Milwaukee.

"Rondo's penetration really opened up things, I was able to knock down some shots," Pierce told the team's official website. "We put Rondo in the middle and let him create and we shared the ball."

Rondo finished with 10 assists for his 30th consecutive regular-season game with at least that many. It's the third-longest such streak in NBA history, with Magic Johnson holding the record at 46 from April 1983 to February 1984.

Rondo's streak could be put to the test against a Bulls team that boasts one of the league's toughest defenses. Rondo has only one 10-assist effort in his last five games at Chicago.

The Bulls have not allowed an opponent to score 100 points in 15 straight games, and the Celtics have not reached the century mark at the United Center since 2009, losing five straight there.

Jason Terry and Brandon Bass might help after combining for 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting Saturday in Terry's first start with the Celtics and Bass' first game back in the starting lineup.

"We just have to keep getting better," coach Doc Rivers said. "I believe in this team. We just have to play hard every night. It'll give us a chance to win games when we're not playing great."

Carlos Boozer didn't play great against Minnesota, shooting 0 of 5 and finishing with two points. Boozer, averaging 17.0 points over his 11-year career, failed to make a field goal in a game for the first time since Nov. 18, 2003.

"Right now, the ball is just not going in for (Boozer)," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He's gotten some good looks. It'll come around."

Joakim Noah finished with 17 points and Luol Deng added 16 on Saturday. Deng has been impressive against Boston at home, averaging 24.0 in the last three meetings there.

Rondo leads Celtics to 101-95 win over Bulls

By BRADFORD DOOLITTLE
Posted Nov 13 2012 12:04AM

CHICAGO (AP) Rajon Rondo extended his own pursuit of a record and helped the Boston Celtics reverse some recent history.

Rondo had 20 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-95 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. He stretched his streak of consecutive games with 10 or more assists to 31, the longest in the NBA since John Stockton had 37 straight from Feb. 27 to Nov. 29, 1989.

"We played pretty well offensively," Rondo said. "Besides the turnovers I had, we took pretty good care of the ball. We got out on the break, kept it simple offensively."

Rondo, who leads the NBA with an average of 12.9 assists per game, took advantage of Bulls point guard Nate Robinson by getting all of his scoring in the first three quarters to help the Celtics build a 12-point lead while shooting 56 percent.

"(Rondo) had an excellent game," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He is starting to get comfortable with the players that are out there on the floor and what he can call with them there."

Brandon Bass led four other Celtics in double figures with 16 points as Boston held off a furious late Chicago rally to snap a five-game losing streak at the United Center. Kevin Garnett had 15 points.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Joakim Noah added 17 points and 11 boards and led Chicago's fourth quarter rally with nine points.

The Celtics became the first team to score 100 points against the Bulls since April 8 of last season, ending a streak that had reached 15 straight games.

"They scored 58 points in the first half," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You give up 33 (points in the first quarter) to a team like that, you're giving them confidence and they're hard to slow down after that."

The Bulls held Boston without a point for 5:15 of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight pull to 87-84. Chicago had five straight possessions to close the gap further but couldn't, and Jason Terry finally snapped the Celtics' drought with a jumper with just under 5 minutes to play.

"They did make a good run at us," said Paul Pierce, who was held to 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting. "We just have to run to the finish line in games. There were a few times when I thought we were up 12 to 14 and could have gone to 20 and didn't."

Rookie Marquis Teague replaced Robinson in the fourth and helped curb Rondo's scoring. Noah outplayed Garnett during the Chicago spree, aggressively driving to the basket while Garnett missed three straight jumpers on the other end, including an air ball that landed out of bounds.

In the final minute, Deng made two free throws to cut the lead to three, but after a timeout Rondo passed to Garnett for an alley-oop dunk with 41.9 seconds to play.

"Actually we covered that play in the pregame," Thibodeau said. "They're good at it."

After Taj Gibson missed two free throws, Rondo then passed to Bass for a dunk to seal the win and extend his assists streak. The Celtics shot just 35 percent in the fourth after their strong start.

"We thrive in situations where it's a tight ballgame," Boston's Jason Terry said. "We've all been in that situation plenty of times--we know what to do."

The Celtics used a 10-0 run over a 3:45 stretch of the second quarter to establish its biggest lead of the first half at 51-38. Boston led 58-46 at the break, getting 59.5 percent shooting.

Rondo continued to take advantage of Robinson in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in the period as the Celtics maintained their shooting touch. Boston led 82-70 after three and appeared to be in good shape.

The Celtics have won their last 27 games when leading after three quarters, a streak more than twice as long as any other in the NBA.

"This is a competitive group of guys and they want to find a way to win," Rivers said.

Pierce and Rondo scored eight points apiece as the Celtics took a 33-27 lead after the first quarter, shooting 63.6 percent from the field and setting a new season high for points in a quarter.

"I don't know where to start," Gibson said. "There were a lot of things. They got a lot of confidence early."

NOTES: Chicago played without starting PG Kirk Hinrich, who sat out with a strained right hip. Hinrich suffered the injury in Saturday's win over Minnesota and is considered day to day. Robinson started in his place. ... Boston coach Doc Rivers called the news that the rival Los Angeles Lakers had hired Mike D'Antoni as their new coach "very interesting" and added that "I hope they don't do too well." . In what has become an annual ritual, the Bulls will play their next five games on the road over the next two weeks while a circus occupies the United Center. ... Carlos Boozer snapped out a recent shooting slump to score 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting in the first quarter for Chicago. Boozer finished with 15 points, but didn't play in the fourth quarter.

• Celtics: Bradley, Melo
• Bulls: Hinrich, Rose

• Celtics: --
• Bulls: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #28 Zach Zarba, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 21712
• Duration: 2:12