On Friday, November 4, the Boston Celtics battle the Chicago Bulls in their second of four matchups between the two teams during the 2022-23 season. Boston lost the first game of the series on October 24.
Nikola Vucevic was flat-out dominant during the first meeting, going for 18 points and 23 rebounds and willing the Bulls back from a double-digit deficit in the first quarter to win by 18 points.
20-point efforts from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fell by the wayside as the C’s second unit failed to produce much of anything besides Malcolm Brogdon’s 12 points on 5/13 shooting, though he had a team-high three turnovers to go along with it in 22 minutes.
It was during the Bulls game when Grant Williams was suspended for “recklessly making contact with and directing inappropriate language toward a game official,” per a league press release. As we’ve learned, his absence wasn’t the cause for Boston losing to the Cavaliers on October 28 at home, given their most recent loss to Cleveland on November 2 with No. 12 in the lineup.
Do the Cs course-correct after being handed their first loss of the current campaign to Chicago or will the Bulls ensure at worst a tie in the series this season? Hardwood Houdini has your odds and a prediction for Friday night between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls on ESPN, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports Chicago, and NBA League Pass (all odds provided by WynnBET):
Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls odds, spread
The Celtics are 7-point favorites against the Bulls. Chicago is a +240 underdog while Boston’s ML is set at -290. The over/under for the game has been placed at 223 points.
Celtics vs. Bulls prediction
Cleveland shockingly took two games as underdogs from Boston, leaving the Cs on the brink of having all the talking heads cast into doubt Joe Mazzulla’s ability to lead the team and the roster’s ability to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.
It’s hard to imagine the Celtics losing this one, but laying the 7 is a tough ask. Instead, the Houdini is leaning towards this one being more of a shootout than their previous matchup, when Boston fell flat in the Windy City in the final three quarters.
Pick: 223o (-110)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.