After decimating the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the Boston Celtics await a tough test in the form of the Chicago Bulls.
The Wiz did not put up a fight this past weekend, falling to Boston by a score of 144-102. However, the Bulls should put up more of a battle as the C’s head to Chicago on Wednesday night.
For Boston, Grant Williams and Daniel Theis will have to continue to step up. In the previous contest, Williams posted 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor and a near-perfect 4-for-5 shooting from long range, and, while Theis did not put up big numbers in the win, he was a +19 in 23 minutes of action.
The Jays were stellar again with JB posting 32 points and JT dropping 22.
On top of this, Derrick White has seemed to find some consistency to go alongside the two stars.
The former Spur has posted double-digit points in six of his last seven games, including 17 on Sunday, missing just one shot.
For Chicago, their style is rooted around solid defense and efficient shooting. The Bulls enter Wednesday night at 12th in the NBA in Defensive Rating (at the time of this writing).
One thing that could help the C’s is the fact that their opponent is coming off a game on Tuesday night against Milwaukee, one in which Chicago was unable to slow down the Bucks, as they lost by a wide margin, 127-106.
It was announced prior to their Tuesday tip-off that guard Lonzo Ball will be shut down and could miss the rest of the season. Zach LaVine was also out of action on Tuesday, and he remains a game-time decision against the shamrocks.
Boston’s injury report is a bit more populated than in past games.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both game-time decisions (though they are expected to play) with knee ailments. Nik Stauskas will be out with an ankle injury and Robert Williams III remains out as he recovers from a torn meniscus.
At the time of this writing, the Boston Celtics enter Wednesday night as 7.5 point favorites and -270 on the money line.
So how does Boston pull away with the win and continue to build momentum heading into the playoffs?
Here are 3 keys for them to doing so:
Boston Celtics key to victory No.1) Attack the paint
The Chicago Bulls enter Wednesday night as a solid all-around defensive team. That said, their one area of weakness appears to be inside the paint.
Nikola Vucevic has been relatively inconsistent on both ends of the floor this season for the red and white.
The former Magic star is coming off a season-worst 3-for-19 shooting from the field with just seven points. Brook Lopez managed to drop a season-high 28 points for Milwaukee against Vuc and the Bulls bigs.
Chicago has allowed the eighth-most points in the paint per game to the opposition this season.
With Vucevic’s recent struggles on full display, it could be a big night for Al Horford.
The 35-year-old big man is well-rested as the Celts have had the previous two days to rest, after their mid-day victory on Sunday.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown should have an easier time in the paint tonight as the Bulls are relatively poor at stopping opponents from getting to the rack.
DeRozan and Dosunmu are solid perimeter defenders, so the paint may be the easiest avenue for Boston buckets.