Game Thread #14: Bulls at Boston Celtics (UPDATE BELOW)

by Mike Aparicio on Dec 2, 2005 1:02 PM CST in News

The Bulls (7-6) will try to rebound from that debacle in New York the other night as they take on the Celtics (6-8) in Boston.

After giving the Hawks their first win of season, coach Doc Rivers replaced starting center Mark Blount with Kendrick Perkins. Perkins is coming off a career game in which he put up 12 points, 19 boards (just one less than Blount managed in his previous FOUR games), four assists and two blocks in a 110-103 win over the Sixers. The Celts are now 2-1 this season when Perkins starts. When Perkins plays at least 10+ minutes the Celtics have outrebounded opponents 47.0 to 40.2, but when Perkins plays less than 10 minutes, the Celtics have been outrebounded 37.3 to 40.5.

Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis are both having career seasons, yet only two of the Celtics wins have come against teams .500 or better.

Despite their fourth quarter meltdown against the Knicks, the Bulls are coming off their first winning November since 1998. Kirk Hinrich is averaging 13.2 points and 9 assists in his last five games and has shot the ball well the last two (47 percent). Ben Gordon went 7-for-11 from long range en route to a season high 28 points against the Knicks. Hopefully his shot will hold up tonight.

Blogging with the Enemy: Celtics Blog | Celtics 17

[Celtics Blog ran a great series this week in honor of Festivus. Be sure to check it out.]

Game starts at 6:30 Central and is on ~~CSN~~ CLTV and ESPN 1000.

Update: Clutch free-throw shooting towards the end sealed this win. The Celtics got 43 from Paul Pierce, but Luol Deng and Ben Gordon led a fourth quarter run to bring the Bulls back from a late defecit. Deng and Gordon combined to score 48 points off the bench. Ricky Davis was held to just 12 points on 3-for-11 shooting.

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programming note!

Bulls will be televised on CLTV for cable subscribers (not CSN).

by CRG on Dec 2, 2005 6:08 PM CST reply actions

Fouls...

I'm not sure what I'm seeing.
There are certainly some legitimate fouls being called, but the high volume in the last few games would indicate that maybe the refs are looking to call fouls, or the Bulls have a reputation for fouling.
Watching this game, I've seen at least 4 ocassions where an over-the-back call hasn't been called on the Celtics when a taller Celtic player is involved. Is this a case of the Bulls lack of size being a detriment, where it looks like the ball is being cleanly rebounded by the taller man?
And has any team been called for more moving screens then the Bulls, specifically Mike Sweetney?
Should Skiles start pulling an old PJ trick where he starts lobbying better calls thru the media?
This is getting out of hand.

Kidd2323

by james@lifeinthecell on Dec 2, 2005 9:01 PM CST reply actions