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[FLCeltsFan]

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Chicago Bulls (1-0) at Boston Celtics (1-0)
Friday, October 31
8:00 PM
Regular Season Game #2, Home Game #2
TV:  ESPN, CSNHD, CSN Chicago
Radio:  WEEI
TD Banknorth Garden    




Probable Starters

Rondo/R Allen/ Pierce/ Garnett/ Perkins

Off the Bench:[/b]
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
JR Giddens
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell 
 
Injuries:
None

Probable Inactive
JR Giddens
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell 




Probable Starters
      
Rose/ Sefolosha/Deng/ Thomas/ Gooden

Off the Bench
Kirk Hinrich
Ben Gordon
Joakim Noah
Andres Nocioni
Aaron Gray 
Demetris Nichols
Cedric Simmons
Michael Ruffin

Injuries
Larry Hughes (Shoulder) out

Probable Inactive
Larry Hughes
Michael Ruffin

Matchups to Watch
vs
The Bulls #1 draft pick, Derrick Rose is starting at the point.  Rondo has outplayed quite a few veterans and now he gets the chance to matchup up against the Bulls' rookie of the year candidate.  Rose averaged 11.0 points,  4.00 rebounds and  9.0 assists per game in the preseason.  Rondo averaged  10.2 points,  4.10 rebounds, and  6.6 assists.  It will be a fun matchup to watch. 

vs
This is always a good matchup.    Luol Deng is one player who has been able to defend Paul Pierce very well.  Deng just got a nice big contract and Pierce is on a mission to repeat as champion.  This could get pretty intense. 

The Bulls won their opening night game against the Bucks 108-95.  The Celtics also won their opening night game and so one or the other will be handed their first loss of the season in this game.

Last season, the Celtics swept the series from the Bulls 4-0 for the first time since the 1986-87 season.  In the 4 games last season, The Celtics averaged 105.3 points to only 87 for the Bulls.  The Bulls have added super rookie, Derrick Rose to a team that already was stocked with talented young players.  Whether they can find the chemistry necessary to get the most out of those players is yet to be seen.  They have a rookie coach in Vinnie Del Negro and the Bulls are hoping that he can keep the team from falling apart as they did last season.

X-Factor
Home court advantage.  The Celtics are tough at home and hopefully that will give them an edge in this game.   

[greenwise]

Nice game to watch, and on Halloween night!

 I will always remember that win on a same night some years ago against MJ...we had Billups, Walker, Mercer, McCarty...

By the way, i think it's Garnett's 1000th game in the NBA

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kevin_garnett/career_stats.html

[kw10]

Thanks FLCeltsFan, I love those 2 logos/cufflinks.

For those downunder, I believe this game will be televised! Get excited! I am! I plan to watch this game over at a mate's place after my final exam of the year (and he's a Bulls fan, so it'd be interesting), just can't wait!

BTW, I agree with the Rondo/Rose matchup being a must-watch. As much as I like Rose, I hope Rondo teaches him a good lesson of taking care of the ball and making good decisions (prediction, Rose gets 5+ TOs in this game or close to 10 depending how many minutes he play).

Also, my mate said Rose is the best point guard at dunking in the league.(lets forget about Nate Robinson for now) Any thoughts on that??

[CelticsWhat35]

Anyone know what, if any, channel this game will be blacked out on?

[Redz]

I'm feeling nostalgic

Go Celts!

[crownsy]

thank god this game is on CSN, i couldn't take another non-mike and tommy home game.

[Gomesfan]

I am also excited to see Rose play. This will be the first nba game I have seen himm play and it is just a bonus to him matched against Rondo.
Also excited to see Hinrich for the 1st time this year,I personally think he is going to have a huge year.

[Celtic]

I'm feeling nostalgic

Go Celts!

TP, Beautiful Redz, I'll see your Rocky, and raise you an Apollo.

[RedsCeltics34]

Rondo vs Rose will be a good one.

[SportsCapNative]

 

[Chief]

I'm feeling nostalgic

Go Celts!

Me too!!!

[BigAlTheFuture]

This should be a good game. I say Celtics: 97 Bulls: 88.

[Kwhit10]

I'm excited to see Rose vs Rondo too.  I know Rose is quick but he'll have a difficult time with Rondo and his huge hands.

[BigAlTheFuture]

I'm excited to see Rose vs Rondo too.  I know Rose is quick but he'll have a difficult time with Rondo and his huge hands.

Rondo is even quicker.

[cordobes]

Thanks for the game thread FLCeltsFans. As usual, great work.

I think this can be a fairly easy win for the C's if the team does a couple of things:

- Rondo has to slow down Rose's dribble penetrations, we can't rely on the help-defense sinking too deep because the kid is really good kicking out the ball and their shooters can get hot. edit: oh, and Rose struggles mightily with picks, he's really, really bad, make him run a lot on the defensive end and he'll get lost.

- we must defend the transitions well.

If we do this, they'll need a miracle to win. The Bucks didn't do either, they were horrible in their own fastbreaks and first passes, turning over the ball at an insane rate, were in foul trouble since very early, especially their bigs, and they still made it a competitive game almost to the end.