Bulls (2-2) at Celtics (2-2) Game 5 2/28

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Chicago Bulls (2-2) at Boston Celtics (2-2)
Tuesday, April 28
7:00 PM ET
Postseason Game 5, Home Game 3
TV:   TNT, CSN HD
TD Banknorth Garden 


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo  vs  Derrick Rose

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Ben Gordon

Small Forward
vs 
Paul Pierce vs John Salmons 

Power Forward
  vs 
Glen Davis vs Tyrus Thomas 

Center
vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Joakim Noah 




Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 26.7
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 222

Reserves
Mikki Moore
Stephon Marbury
Eddie House
Gabe Pruitt
Bill Walker
Tony Allen
Brian Scalabrine

Injuries:
Kevin Garnett (knee)  out
Leon Powe (knee) out


Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Average Age: 26.0
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 219

Reserves
Aaron Gray 
Kirk Hinrich
Tim Thomas
Lindsey Hunter
Anthony Roberson
Linton Johnson

Injuries
Luol Deng (shin) out
Jerome James (Achilles)  out   
Ben Gordon (hamstring)  probable

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Derrick Rose
This is still the key matchup between these two teams.  Both point guards have been the key player in leading tier teams.  As the point guard goes, the team will follow.

vs
Paul Pierce vs John Salmons
Paul Pierce must pick up his game on both ends of the court.  The Celtics need his leadership and his scoring to win this series.

Honorable Mention
vs
Ray Allen vs Ben Gordon
With Ben Gordon having a hamstring pull in the last game, Ray needs to go at him and make him work on the defensive end. 

Kendrick Perkins vs Joakim Noah
vs 
When Perk went out of the game with 6 fouls, we saw how much we missed him because suddenly, the Celtics couldn't get any stops.  Noah has been playing with a lot of energy in this series and Perk will need stay  out of foul trouble and anchor the defense. 

Keys to the Game
Defense
Ball Movement
Rebounding
Limit Turnovers
Focus

X Factor
Focus and Instensity
At times in this series, the Celtics have appeared to have neither.  They must regain their focus, especially defensively and each player must focus on the team game. 

[Donoghus]

Nothing like some home cooking to cure things. 

[QuinielaBox]

Well, here we are again on the eve of another critical Game 5 with the Series tied at 2. We must win this game if we are to remain a credible contender.

Chicago has played incredibly well in three of the four games, milking all the production they can from 7 players.

Boston has not played horribly but has not been on top of their game. Their bench play, save a nice Marbury game last Thursday, has been simply awful. Mikki Moore and Eddie House vs Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller has been completely insipid. We are losing the series right there.

There have been severe imbalances the Celtics have had to deal with -

Game One - Ray Allen 4 points, Derrick Rose 36 points (Overtime loss)
Game Two - Paul Pierce 18 points, Gorden 42 points (Ray Allen carried the load) 
Game Three - Boston controlled this game
Game Four - Boston Bench - 11 points, Chicago Bench 30 points.

The Celtics will have a difficult task to close out the Bulls. They also have a miserable record in games that start before 4 pm Eastern time home or away. Fortunately, the Celtics next two games start after 6 pm Eastern time so psychologically, they do not have to deal with an early start and the referees showing them up on National TV. I think Game 7 is going to start in the afternoon this upcoming weekend so I desperately want them to close this out in 6 games.

Stephon Marbury is missing his last chance to do something great so far. Mikki Moore is about as effective as Curtis Rowe or Jim Ard (for those of you who remember 1977). Eddie House can have an impact by making his shots and punishing Kirk Hinrich. Brian Scalabrine can get the job done against Brad Miller. Celtics starters should beat the Bulls starters 95-83 per 48 minutes. We just need the bench to help us out here.

(Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe are out of the equation).

The winner of this series will end up squaring off against Cleveland in the ECF. Neither Philly or Orlando are dangerous.

[ACF]

TP for you, FL.

Come on, Celtics:
I'm not much of a believer
so please prove me wrong!!!

[Drucci]

TP FL!

I'm excited and worried at the same time, this game is probably the most important of the series considering that, if the Celtics lose, they'll go back to Chicago down 3-2.

However as I said in a thread I started, I expect our team to have a great game and to crush the Bulls to get right back on track. I just hope that Pierce will finally get the free throws he deserves when he draws the foul in the paint, otherwise he will force jumpshots and probably miss them. My heart won't support another close game with costly turnovers at the end of the game...

Plus, it's the first (and probably only one) game of the series that I won't be able to watch live because I must wake up early tomorrow (the game starts at 1 am here), so I hope I'll be able to download it tomorrow and witness a great Celtics win. I wish you a good game and a Celtics victory (may my prediction come true)!

[4THQTR]

Celtics need to get this!

I'd love a blowout-fashion victory a là game 3!
They need to stop encouraging and motivating a young team and set the tone early.

Hopefully they can get the job done tonight, actually i'm glad i can't watch, cause if it's anything like last game it'll be just too much for my nerves...



BTW: All the praise for Rose is justified, he is playing out of his mind and sensational basketball for a rookie, but rondo still is the real star of this series:

After 4 games:
Rose:    MIN: 41.3   FG%: .508   REB: 6.0   STL: .25   BLK: .50   TO: 5.25   AST: 7.3   PTS: 19.5
Rondo: MIN: 43.3   FG%: .500   REB: 10.8  STL: 3.50   BLK: .25   TO: 1.75   AST: 10.0   PTS: 23.3

[RAcker]

The score needs to be a reflection of what we did in Game 3.  Defense needs to rule the night.

[papa shuttlesworth]

Any more word on Ben Gordon?  I don't expect him to be hampered at all, but hamstrings can be tricky.

[papa shuttlesworth]

Never mind.  I just refreshed the front page and this is the news on BG:

Gordon said he is going to test the injury during pregame to see what he is able to do. On the possibility of playing tonight, he said, "It's still pretty bad. I don't know. I'm looking for a miracle."

[Celtic]

3-2 Celtics tonight.

[albas89]

I expect a 20-point win tonight and I expect a huge game by the Captain...
It will be a close game till half time but I expect the Bulls to collapse late in the 3rd quarter!! House will finish off the game with a couple of 3s... 104-84 the final score...


If I'm right about at least one of those predictions, I'm expecting some TPs...
Just joking!! But let's hope I'll be right about the win at least, forget about the others...

[fairweatherfan]

Gordon is reportedly questionable for tonight's game - I can't imagine he won't go, but I've had hamstring problems before and it's not really the kind of injury you warm up out of.  If he plays his effectiveness could be quite a bit off. 

[Drucci]

Gordon is reportedly questionable for tonight's game - I can't imagine he won't go, but I've had hamstring problems before and it's not really the kind of injury you warm up out of.  If he plays his effectiveness could be quite a bit off. 

New update on Gordon's status :

Chicago Bulls' Ben Gordon sounds iffy for Game 5

K.C. Johnson

BOSTON -- Ben Gordon has played in all 82 games three times in his five NBA seasons, including this one, so the sobering account the tough guard gave on his strained left hamstring following Tuesday's morning shootaround at Emerson College is no idle chatter.

"Not good," Gordon said, when asked how the injury felt. "It didn't get worse, but it doesn't feel any better."

Gordon didn't participate in the shootaround and said he's been icing the injury and using electrical stimulation to try to get the hamstring to respond. He will test what he said is a Grade 2 strained hamstring before Game 5.

"It's my call, but I have to go off how it feels," Gordon said. "It doesn't feel good. Hopefully I can play. If not, we have Game 6 at home (Thursday)."

Gordon suffered the injury during the second quarter of Sunday's double-overtime victory. He played close to 33 minutes following the injury but needed a painkilling shot at halftime to do so.

"Maybe some of the pain and swelling wasn't there then," Gordon said. "The swelling got a lot worse. I'm hoping for a miracle."

Coach Vinny Del Negro said Kirk Hinrich would start for Gordon if he can't play.

It seems bad for him but when you read that he just took a painkilling shot at halftime in game 4 and was able to play 33 more minutes and hit a tying shot, you can guess that even if he is not 100% percent he will be good enough to damage the Celtics.

[celticinorlando]

well here we are...tied up in a series that is 2 FT's away from being a 4-0 sweep. forget offense...boston is scoring enough to win...they have to play better defense tonight. has to be like game 3. a slim win without ben gordon does nothing IMO....they need to pound the bulls tonight...IMO in the end the C's will be involved in another close game with some unknown guy from the bulls carrying them...it wont be rose...wont be gordon..i expect it to be salmons or thomas....the bulls are a jump shooting team....D them up....and for the love of god PP drive to the rim

[silvershamrocker]

well here we are...tied up in a series that is 2 FT's away from being a 4-0 sweep. forget offense...boston is scoring enough to win...they have to play better defense tonight. has to be like game 3. a slim win without ben gordon does nothing IMO....they need to pound the bulls tonight...IMO in the end the C's will be involved in another close game with some unknown guy from the bulls carrying them...it wont be rose...wont be gordon..i expect it to be salmons or thomas....the bulls are a jump shooting team....D them up....and for the love of god PP drive to the rim

I agree with you that our defense has been the problem. If the Celtics had gotten a few stops in 2OT of game 4 they'd have won.