When the Bulls next take the United Center floor on February 24, it will be known whether they were buyers or sellers or stand-patters at Thursday’s trade deadline.
Advertisement
The Boston Celtics enter NBA All-Star Weekend as winners of 11 of their last 13 games, but the way Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls ended will leave a sour taste in their mouths. Tomorrow’s Celtics vs Bulls matchup is a must see. The rosters change, but playing Butler into the ground never will. Even then, it might not be a slam-dunk decision because teams are going to ask for Smart and part of Boston’s treasure trove of future draft assets.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, a former Celtic, said he thinks Boston has a real shot of making it to the NBA Finals.
“That’s awful when it costs you a game you should have won”, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas said. Taj Gibson had 12 and Doug McDermott 11. “We’re still inconsistent when we play against some of the lower-tier teams”.
“I always say it”.
But unfortunately for the Celtics the officials decided Thursday’s game. Later in the quarter, Gerald Henderson was ejected for two technical fouls on the same call. As it stands now, the Bulls are clinging for their playoff lives and the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed despite their 28-29 record. Rondo and Nikola Mirotic have been on the market for weeks.
The Blues have won a season-high five straight games, and coach Mike Yeo has won six of seven since replacing the fired Ken Hitchcock. Rajon Rondo scored zero points but added some key assists and boards off the bench with eight and seven, respectively.
Butler answered with a 3-pointer, and when Olynyk scored again, Chicago’s Bobby Portis scored for a 90-86 Bulls lead.
Isaiah Thomas scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and the surging Boston Celtics held on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-108 on Wednesday night.
Thomas had his 41st straight game with at least 20 points, breaking John Havlicek’s team record. Thomas closed out hard on Robert Covington to prevent a 3-point attempt, then Covington, who surely thought he’d have had an open look, tried to drive past Thomas.
But as many big wins as the Bulls have notched thus far, overcoming the inconsistency that kept the Bulls hovering around and under the.500 mark will need to addressed if the Bulls hope to leave the drama in the rear-view mirror. “We’ve had ups and downs”.
Advertisement
I know we’re getting way ahead of ourselves when we talk about Bradley, Smart, and Thomas all due new contracts next summer, but that has to be going through Ainge’s mind as he navigates the trade market this week.
