The Chicago Bulls barely pulled off the win in overtime with Marco Belinelli’s off-balance, hail Mary shot that put the Bulls up 100-99. The majority of the game was neck-and-neck with the great defense from the Celtics and Bulls. Defensively, the two teams are so similar, which always makes for a thrilling game every time. Chicago shot 48% from the field, while the Celtics shot 41.8%. The Bulls are now 6-0 so far this season when playing on Friday nights. So, maybe the win was just from pure luck?

Luol Deng had a really tough night, only shooting 1-6 from the field. He left the game with 3 points, when he strained his already aggravated hamstring in the 3rd quarter. It’s unlikely that he’ll play on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Carlos Boozer is continuing to play great this season. He can possibly be an All-Star reserve along side All-Star candidates Luol Deng and Joakim Noah. Boozer had 19 points, 20 rebounds, and 4 assists in 43 minutes of playing time. Rip Hamilton had a great game and contributed 20 points for the Bulls. He’s starting to get his legs back under him after being out from nagging injuries. Joakim Noah played the most minutes, playing 45 minutes. Noah finished the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bulls bench certainly contributed well against the Celtics. Between Marco Belinelli, Jimmy Butler, and Nate Robinson had 34 of the 36 points from the bench. Belinelli had 10 points and the game-winner. Butler finished the game with 13 points and 4 rebounds. Jimmy Butler is already a natural on defense, but he’s breaking out of shell, offensively. Like Belinelli, he’s not hesitating to shoot the ball, especially if he’s open. Jimmy is playing with more aggression and anyone can easily see how much he has worked on his game during the off-season. Nate Robinson, a former Celtic, had 11 points and 2 assists. He was needed early since Hinrich got into foul trouble. After the win, the Bulls are now 23-15 and in 4th place in the East.

Overtime was not very ideal for the Bulls since they have to play the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night at 8pm ET. The Memphis Grizzlies are 25-13, just coming off a win against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. The game will be played at the United Center.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpPD2caWSg

The Chicago Bulls are a good team without Derrick Rose. But, with Derrick Rose, they are a great team, obviously. While playing elite teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics, they have the ability to keep the game close enough to actually win. But, that’s not good enough. The theme is starting to be the old saying, “close but no cigar”. The Bulls always seem to fall short. They can easily defeat .500 teams even though they may give the Bulls a bit of a challenge. The problem may be that fans expectations are a bit too high. Maybe the Chicago Bulls are just an average team without Rose. Or the problem is that everyone doesn’t bring their top game and expects someone else to bail them out. Derrick Rose was the leader that everyone depended on to bail them out of close games, but now the team is struggling to find that “someone”. The term “hero ball” is a particular play with the best player making clutch plays to win games for their team a la Carmelo Anthony. Only special players have that ability to take it upon themselves and put the team on their backs all the way to victory. But, what happens when your best player is injured and cannot do so? Teams that don’t have a superstar to depend on play team ball. Everything is cohesive and everyone gets their touches. No one tries to play hero, but just stick to playing their role. The Bulls need to work on executing their plays. If their shots are not falling, the obvious instinct should be to attack the rim and try to get fouled. It may sound easy, but that plan may not work if your foul shots aren’t falling either. Which brings on more problems. Last night, the Bulls had an opportunity to move in on the win, but could not make their free throws. They were 77.4% from the line and that’s certainly not bad, but they could not make them when they needed them the most in the 4th quarter. Luol Deng led the Bulls with points and minutes, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds in 45 minutes of playing time. But, Rajon Rondo was entirely too much with 20 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals, resulting in the Celtics 101-95 win over the Chicago Bulls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU83SUxAjIQ

The Boston Celtics are home from Europe, but it is no rest for the weary.  They continue their preseason schedule this weekend as they prepare for that all too important season-opener against the Miami Heat at the end of the month.

The Celtics split their two games overseas, losing to Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey and beating EA7 Emporio Armani Milano in Italy.

Here’s what we learned about the Celtics in their first two preseason games:

• Jared Sullinger is the real deal.  The first-round pick proved his worth against Turkey, scoring 16 points and pulling down 8 rebounds.  His first real performance in a Celtics uniform earned him a starting spot in Boston’s second game against Milan, where he posted 7 points and 9 rebounds.  NBA teams were concerned about Sullinger’s injury potential, but the Celtics took their chances.  It’s only been two preseason games, but this kid could definitely be a game-changer down the stretch.
• Rajon Rondo is ready to lead, again.  The Celtics’ point guard made it very clear this off-season this is his team, and he is the leader.  He scored 17 points in the game against Milan, proving that last season’s offensive outpouring wasn’t a fluke.  Rondo was never known for his outside shooting, but if he’s going to lead this team like he says he will, he must stay aggressive.  If he can permanently add that short jumper to his game, he is a serious threat because no team can stop him if he has the ability to drive and knock down shots. » Continue reading “Celtics Return Home From European Excursion”

The Boston Celtics are less than two weeks away from their first preseason game and things are lining up in order for them to begin their 2012-2013 campaign.

Here are your news and notes on this Monday:

• The Celtics signed center Darko Milicic to a one-year deal.
• Doc Rivers said guard Avery Bradley is not close to returning and won’t play until after December.
• Brian Scalabrine will return to Boston…as a color analyst for Comcast Sports New England.
• Keyon Dooling retired late last week, which opens up roster spots for some of the new guards vying for a playing spot.

The Boston Celtics should hate the Miami Heat, at least according to Doc Rivers.

The Celtics coach recently said he wants that message to be clear among all his players, too.

“I have my eye squarely on Miami.  I come up to my players during the year — they’re in the facility now — I bring up Miami every single day to them.  I want them to hate them.  I want them to beat them.  That’s gotta be our focus.”

Considering recent history, those players have a lot of reasons to dislike the defending NBA champions.

Miami knocked Boston out of the playoffs the past two seasons, first in the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2011 and then the Eastern Conference Finals this past season.

» Continue reading “Doc Rivers Hates The Heat, And His Players Should Too”

The young NBA players took post-game wardrobe to a whole new level this post season.  From lensless glasses to crazy, patterned shirts, their outfits sometimes garnered more conversation than the actual games.

Rajon Rondo’s name was occasionally in the mix, but he definitely was not the leader of the pack in terms of trendsetting.

That is, until now.  The Celtics point guard turned fashionista took an internship with GQ during New York Fashion Week.

The magazine issued this statement regarding their newest employee:

Fashion Week is our busiest time of year–between the shows, presentations, and ya know, posing.  We needed a little help, someone to run point back at home base and on the ground floor at Lincoln Center.  Who better than NBA All-star-and all around stylish dude-Rajon Rondo? Rajon will be interning at GQ for the next few days, helping our game out and learning a thing or two about menswear and the magazine industry.  You’ll see interviews, critiques, and blog post from the future hall-of-famer popping up all week.  And from the tip-off of his time on our team, it doesn’t seem like he left his competitive instinct back in Beantown.  Other interns, beware.

In honor of fashion week and Rondo’s new gig, here are his top 3 “most-fashionable” looks:

» Continue reading “Rajon Rondo: Basketball Player Turned Fashionista”

As Labor Day comes to a close, fall is unofficially upon us.  That can only mean one thing…Celtics preseason is soon approaching and the NBA season will be ready to begin.

However, Boston’s players have been plenty busy this summer relaxing and taking time away from basketball.

Check out what some of the Celtics have been up to:

Paul Pierce hit the beach with his daughters, tweeting, “U kno I gotta have a couple girls with me while at the beach it’s the only way.”

» Continue reading “Keeping Up With The Celtics”

The Celtics will jet-set to Europe to begin their preseason schedule, landing in Turkey and then Italy for two international games.  They will return home a week later to face off against some Atlantic Division foes before beginning their quest for another NBA championship.

Overseas trips can sometimes be challenging for teams because of the time changes on both ends of travel plus the rigor of getting back into game mode.  Although, traveling is always fun and can be a great bonding experience for the team.

At least these two games come during the preseason and not like the regular season like some of the other professional leagues have done in the past.

Boston is also only at home once during the preseason, so they will gladly welcome the TD Garden once the regular season begins.

Poor, Doc.  As if losing one of his team’s best players to free agency was not enough, he feels responsible.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Doc Rivers takes the blame for Ray Allen’s decision to leave Boston and sign with Miami.

“People can use all the Rondo stuff – and it was there, no doubt about that – but it was me more than Rondo,” said Rivers, who is working as an NBC analyst during the Olympics.  ”I’m the guy who gave Rondo the ball.  I’m the guy who decided that Rondo needed to be more of the leader of the team.  That doesn’t mean guys liked that – and Ray did not love that – because Rondo now had the ball all the time.”

Rivers further acknowledged the rift between Allen and Rondo, but what may have been most surprising is what else he said about Allen’s exit.  If there was any doubt before this that Rivers cared about his players, this statement pretty much says it all.  And if someone is going to cross him, then he is definitely going to be upset about it.

“I was pissed at him,” Rivers said.  ”I was pissed at him for his reasons for leaving.  But what people don’t get: I wasn’t pissed at him for leaving Miami.  I could care less he went there.  And that’s a fact.  With the fans, I know it was: How could he go to Miami?  But once he decided he didn’t want to stay with us, he has the right to go wherever he wants.”

» Continue reading “Boston Celtics: Doc Still Struggling With Ray’s Departure”

The Celtics are in full off-season mode, as the front office continues to make deals to put the 2012-2013 team together.  Here are your news and notes for today:

• Boston is now settled in Las Vegas for the second part of Summer League, and here is a summary of how the team is doing.
• The Celtics will open the season against…you guessed it…the Miami Heat.  Boston will watch the team that knocked them out of the playoffs receive their rings and raise the championship banner right before they tip off for their quest of Banner 18.  Oh, and don’t forget they will also face former Celtic Ray Allen right off the bat.
• Boston continues signing players, and this time, it’s Jason Collins to a one-year deal.
• The Celtics also signed Dionte Christmas, who has shined thus far in the Summer League.  He’s shot 49% from the field, averaging 14 points a game.