The C's will definitely need a day to rest now, as they've taken a beating from the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Derrick Rose goes crazy for 36 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and the C's have no answer.
Paul Pierce drops 21 points for the Celtics and Ray Allen drops 19. But without Kevin Garnett, a Big Two isn't enough to overcome Rose and the Bulls.
Perhaps that won't be an issue anymore. A Garnett return is a possibility as the C's host the Houston Rockets on Monday night at the TD Garden.
Fourth quarter, 2:17, Bulls 85-76: Both teams with a couple of fruitless possessions, settling for mid-range shots and missing them.
We're looking at a defensive standstill at this point, and the Bulls will no doubt take it.
Fourth quarter, 3:13, Bulls 85-76: When Rajon Rondo starts firing away with mid-range jumpers, you know the Celtics are getting desperate.
But when he makes them, you can't complain. The C's are within nine, just barely still alive.
Fourth quarter, 4:57, Bulls 80-70: And just like that, the Bulls have the first double-digit lead of the ballgame for either side. You take your eye off Derrick Rose for one second, and look what happens.
Rose has 31 points and only two assists. That's how he does things. He's the anti-Rondo.
Fourth quarter, 5:50, Bulls 76-70: Careful now. This one's not over yet.
Rajon Rondo just scooped up a loose ball and dashed for the basket in the blink of an eye. He's now in double figures with 11 points.
Fourth quarter, 7:10, Bulls 73-67: Say what you will about Glen Davis, but no volume of missed (or even blocked) shots will discourage him. He's got perseverance.
Baby knocks down a nice jumper from the top of the key, cutting the Bulls' lead from eight to six.
It's a "baby" step forward, you could say.
Fourth quarter, 8:52, Bulls 71-65: Doc Rivers has called a timeout. Unfortunately, it looks like his team needs a lot more than 90 seconds to get out of this mess. More like 24 hours.
The Celtics are tired mentally and physically. They're playing like it.
They've got to get back to moving the ball, finding good looks, and knocking down shots. The offense has been so shaky, something's got to give.
Fourth quarter, 9:41, Bulls 71-64: The Bulls open the quarter on a 4-0 run, as once again Carlos Boozer is running wild. He's got 19 points on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting clip.
The Celtics need more size to contain Boozer. A front line of Big Baby and Luke Harangody just isn't cutting it. This situation is just begging for an O'Neal.
End of third quarter, Bulls 67-64: One night, the Celtics cross the century mark and run away against the Raptors. The next night, it'll be a miracle if the Celtics make it to 90 points.
The offense has been terrible all night, with pretty much no one hitting a shot besides Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. The supporting cast has had plenty of open looks, and they're not falling.
They've got to keep grinding away without getting demoralized. It's impressive that they've led this game in places, and they're still only down three. Time for the C's to prove that they can win even when they don't play great.
Third quarter, 2:49, Celtics 62-60: The Celtics haven't made a field goal in almost three minutes, yet they've still managed to cling to a three-point lead.
This is a sloppy game offensively on both sides — perhaps predictably, given that both teams played Friday night and are still feeling the effects. The Celtics have been particularly rusty, shooting only 42.3 percent.
Hard to believe that the Celtics just dropped 122 points one night ago, and now this.
Third quarter, 5:45, Celtics 56-55: Glen Davis just tried to coast to the rim for a dunk, and Kurt Thomas destroyed him. That was a Big Baby moment if I've ever seen one.
Baby's got to be more selective about attacking the basket. He's way too short to think he can get away with that move too often.
Third quarter, 6:44, Celtics 54-52: There's good news and bad for the Celtics — good that a 10-4 run has enabled them to reclaim the lead, thanks in no small part to Rajon Rondo emerging as an aggressor offensively. The bad? Shaquille O'Neal has picked up his fourth foul.
Doc Rivers might want to keep Shaq under wraps for a while. He's going to need him come crunch time, and he doesn't want him playing scared with five fouls on him.
Third quarter, 9:52, Bulls 50-46: Glen Davis is having trouble containing Carlos Boozer. This could become a real problem if the C's don't do something about it.
Boozer pours in four quick ones to open the third quarter. The C's just don't seem equipped to contain both him and Derrick Rose at the same time.
Halftime, Bulls 46-42: Sometimes Derrick Rose just has his nights, and it would appear that this is one of them.
D-Rose has exploded for 16 points on eight shot attempts, a ridiculously efficient night for him so far. Rajon Rondo is doing everything in his power to slow the guy down, but it doesn't look like enough.
The Celtics have gotten 12 points from Ray Allen and 11 from Paul Pierce, but the supporting cast has been a little lacking.
The C's need a few things to change in the second half — more active ball movement, better shot selection, and someone needs to stop that guy Rose.
Second quarter, 2:42, Bulls 40-36: Rajon Rondo just found Ray Allen for an open 21-footer. That's Rondo's… third assist.
Common sense said Rondo would come out amped up and ready to outplay Derrick Rose in this marquee matchup, but two points, three assists and one rebound doesn't exactly scream "believe the hype."
Then again, Rondo's low assist number isn't surprising given the Celtics' play. They haven't worked hard on offense at all yet.
Maybe in the second half, they'll flip the proverbial switch and start trying.
Second quarter, 4:18, Bulls 35-32: The Celtics' ball movement is starting to stagnate, and that's always a sign of bad things to come.
The C's look lazy offensively. Rather than finding an open man, Rajon Rondo is doing a lot of dribbling around aimlessly — and that's not his fault, it's that there's no one open to be found. The energy isn't there, predictably on the second night of a back-to-back.
Second quarter, 6:26, Bulls 32-30: Tom Thibodeau is giving Derrick Rose a nice long break early in the second quarter. But while Rose sits, Carlos Boozer dominates.
Boozer just poured in four points, giving the Bulls a 6-0 run. They've reclaimed the lead from the C's once more.
This game has an exciting back-and-forth feel to it. We can only hope it lasts all night.
Second quarter, 8:51, Celtics 28-26: Von Wafer just entered the ballgame, and Paul Pierce just joined the rest of his fellow starters on the bench.
Solid start for Pierce — he's got nine points so far in the first half, including a 3 that just gave the C's the lead.
Second quarter, 9:54, Bulls 26-25: There's only one Turkish big man on the floor, and it's not Semih Erden. Omer Asik, Erden's countryman and former teammate on the national team this summer, just threw down a dunk for his first two points of the ballgame.
Both Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau are digging deep into their benches in the second quarter. The question is how long Doc trusts his second unit to keep the Celtics in the game.
End of first quarter, Bulls 22-21: Forget about Derrick Rose versus Rajon Rondo. What about Rose versus Ray Allen?
Ray blows up for 10 points in the first quarter, and the Celtics grab a one-point lead with about five seconds to play. Then Rose responds with a running jumper — he's now got 12, and the Bulls have the lead.
Expect these two to be going at it all night. We've seen plenty of games like this over the last few years.
First quarter, 2:57, Bulls 18-17: Call it the running of the Bulls — 10-0, to be exact, for a sudden lead change here in the first quarter.
Derrick Rose has eight points on only four shot attempts.
When Rose can be efficient without having to take a million shots, the Bulls become very difficult to beat.
First quarter, 5:46, Celtics 15-8: It used to be that Shaquille O'Neal was their go-to guy in the first quarter. Not anymore, it appears — Ray Allen has been their early scorer lately.
Ray's got eight points already in this one. He's 3-for-5 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
First quarter, 6:37, Celtics 14-6: The Celtics are now on runs of 7-0 and 14-5.
The Bulls need Kurt Thomas to be a force down low and defend the rim. Especially with Shaq's power to generate points inside, Thomas has to be there as a deterrent. The Bulls aren't getting much out of Thomas offensively, but he can be a game-changer in this matchup on D.
First quarter, 9:14, Celtics 7-4: The Celtics look relaxed and efficient offensively — they've started the ballgame with three assists on three buckets, versus only one turnover.
The C's are establishing the post early. Both Shaq and Glen Davis have scored already.
First quarter, 11:40, Bulls 1-0: Not a good start for Shaquille O'Neal — the big fella is called for defensive three seconds, and the Bulls get to start the ballgame with a technical free throw.
Derrick Rose drains it, and Chicago has an early lead at 1-0.
8 p.m.: Welcome to those of you just joining us at the conclusion of Seahawks-Saints. With one of the great first-round upsets in NFL history in the books, we can all turn our attention to hoops now, right?
The C's and Bulls tip off in just a moment.
6:30 p.m.: The C's are 90 minutes away from taking on the Bulls at the United Center. One interesting thing to watch tonight: How much, if anything, will they get out of Jermaine O'Neal?
J.O. gave the Celtics eight minutes of work on Friday night in their win over the Raptors. He sat out after halftime, though, complaining of a sore knee.
Last time that happened, he missed six weeks. Could we be in for another long stretch of no J.O., or will this time be different?
10 a.m.: The Celtics have undergone a series of minor identity crises this season as they struggle to get through various injuries. On Saturday night, they'll take on a team that knows all about that.
The Chicago Bulls haven't had the sheer number of injury issues that the C's have faced this season, but their few problems have been big ones. For the first month of the season, the Bulls were without Carlos Boozer due to a hand injury; for the last month, they've been without Joakim Noah and his injured thumb.
The Bulls haven't yet found themselves. And their attempt to do so has been a struggle.
On Wednesday night in New Jersey, Boozer failed to come out with energy on the defensive end, and coach Tom Thibodeau yanked him out for the entire fourth quarter. On Friday in Philadelphia, he played big minutes and dropped 31 points, but the Bulls lost anyway.
This is a team still trying to iron out its roles. How much does Boozer need to give them on each end? How reliant should they be on Derrick Rose as a scorer, or as a playmaker? How deep into their bench can they dig for quality minutes?
They're trying to answer all of these questions on the fly, and that's never easy. It's especially difficult when you're taking on a team with the Eastern Conference's best record.
The Bulls and Celtics tip off at 8 p.m. Saturday. Stay tuned for updates as we attempt to answer the question — can the Bulls figure it all out?
