After a few days off, the Boston Celtics will be back in action on Thursday night with a game against the Chicago Bulls. The two sides have already played once this season, and a Payton Pritchard fourth quarter put the Celtics over the top. Now, they’ll play twice in a row—once in Boston on Thursday and again in Chicago on Saturday.
The Celtics have won two games in a row against the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, and they still sit in second place in the Eastern Conference. As for the Bulls, they’ve also won two in a row. They’re heading into Thursday following wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors.
Here are the injury reports for the Celtics’ game against the Bulls on Thursday, December 19.
Celtics injury report vs. Bulls on Thursday, December 19
- Sam Hauser QUESTIONABLE (low back spasms)
- Kristaps Porzingis QUESTIONABLE (right heel contusion)
- Xavier Tillman QUESTIONABLE (non-covid illness)
Bulls injury report vs. Celtics on Thursday, December 19
- Dalen Terry OUT (knee)
- EJ Liddell OUT (knee)
- Zach LaVine QUESTIONABLE (back)
- Josh Giddey QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
Kristaps Porzingis is the headliner on Boston’s injury report heading into Thursday night. The Latvian big man left their last game in Washington due to right heel pain and did not return after halftime.
Since then, there have been multiple updates regarding his status. Immediately after the game, Porzingis said that he wasn’t worried about the ailment moving forward, and after practice on Wednesday, Joe Mazzulla provided the latest update.
“He got through practice well,” Mazzulla said. “Looked pretty good. We'll see how he is tomorrow and just how he responds to it, but I thought he looked good today.”
Porzingis is officially listed as questionable for the game against Chicago.
In addition, Sam Hauser is questionable to play due to low back spasms. He’s been dealing with back issues all year and has been a staple of the injury report. Xavier Tillman is also questionable due to a non-covid illness.
For the Bulls, only Dalen Terry and EJ Liddell are officially out, as they are both dealing with knee injuries.
Josh Giddey exited the Bulls’ game against the Raptors on Monday and did not return due to a right ankle issue, but there has been no official update as to his status for Thursday against Boston.
Similarly, Zach LaVine was out against the Raptors due to a back issue, and there has been no update regarding his status against the Celtics.
Projected starting lineups for Celtics vs. Bulls
Depending on injuries, this is what the Celtics could roll with:
- Derrick White
- Jrue Holiday
- Jaylen Brown
- Jayson Tatum
- Al Horford
Here is what the Bulls’ first five could look like:
- Coby White
- Ayo Dosunmu
- Patrick Williams
- Julian Phillips
- Nikola Vucevic