With their star forward recovering from hand surgery and expected to miss the entire month, the Chicago Bulls are forced to make do without him.
Call it the "Boozer Shuffle."
There will be no Carlos Boozer on the floor for the Bulls when they visit the TD Garden on Friday night to take on the Celtics — with the big free-agent acquisition out of the picture, coach Tom Thibodeau has been forced to make a few changes.
Star center Joakim Noah has been asked to play more minutes in the post, averaging 38.3 minutes per game so far. Second-year forward Taj Gibson has become a regular starter at power forward, and he's started well, shooting 64.1 percent. And Brian Scalabrine, who was considered an afterthought when the Bulls brought him in this summer, has now become the primary backup at the four. Scal's routinely getting double-digit minutes off the bench for the Bulls.
It's been a tough adjustment for the Bulls to start the season, but so far they're treading water. They carry a 2-2 record into Friday's tilt with the Celtics.
Here's the complete rundown on Bulls-C's:
Celtics
Rajon Rondo, PG
Ray Allen, SG
Paul Pierce, SF
Kevin Garnett, PF
Jermaine O'Neal, C
Bulls
Joakim Noah, C
Taj Gibson, PF
Luol Deng, SF
Keith Bogans, SG
Derrick Rose, PG
