Bulls Confidential Countdown: Chicago vs. Boston Game 4
The Bulls will attempt to extend their lead, while Boston will try to even the odds.
The Chicago Bulls are back at it tonight at home for Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs. Be sure to check out Matt Kerner’s recap of Game 3 if you missed it.
Game Information:
Chicago Bulls (2–1) vs. Boston Celtics (1–2) — 5:30PM CDT — TNT
Projected Starters:
Chicago Bulls:
Jerian Grant
Dwyane Wade
Jimmy Butler
Nikola Mirotic
Robin Lopez
Boston Celtics:
Isaiah Thomas
Avery Bradley
Gerald Green
Jae Crowder
Al Horford
Three Keys:
- Glue MCW to the bench:
I can understand if Fred Hoiberg feels it necessary to start Jerian Grant and have a point-guard sized player on the court at least some of the time. That said, Michael Carter-Williams isn’t good at anything, and he shouldn’t touch the court in Game 4. Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade are more than capable of taking on ball-handling duties when Grant rests, and the Bulls will be much better for it. The moment MCW enters the game, finding good shots immediately gets significantly harder because Boston can completely forget about guarding him on the 3-point line. Have Jimmy run the point when Grant is on the bench and give more minutes to Paul Zipser or even Bobby Portis.
2. Jimmy taking the right shots:
Butler had a rough night in Game 3, going only 7-of-21 from the field and collecting zero assists. And it wasn’t just because his teammates weren’t making their shots. Butler had only three potential assists in Game 3, meaning he made only three passes that would have led to an assist had the shot gone down. Many of Butler’s 21 shot attempts were contested, which means that there was likely a crack in the defense elsewhere that he wasn’t finding. Jimmy Butler may be the best player in the series, and it may not even be close, but the best shot is still the open one. Generating more open looks and converting them would go a long way toward a Game 4 victory.
3. Random big night from a rotation guy:
It was Bobby Portis in Game 1 and Paul Zipser in Game 2. A Chicago offense that is a far cry from potent needs an atypical infusion of scoring from unexpected places in order to find success, and that scoring was absent in Game 3. Whether it’s Nikola Mirotic, Portis, Zipser or even Lopez, someone needs to outperform their average if the Bulls want to vault into effective offensive territory. The easy way to determine the right candidate will be to look at whoever Gerald Green is guarding.
Outlook:
We know from experience that trying to predict what this Bulls team will do is beyond pointless. They’ve been defying reason since October. Still, my gut says that Boston will even the series tonight. Rondo’s continued absence will hamper Chicago’s offense, and they’ll be even more relient on some very inconsistent scoring options (Niiiiiiiiiiiikolaaaaaa). I’d love to be wrong.
Prediction: Celtics
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