I apologize for the blurriness of the screen shot from Streak for Cash. However, if you can make it out it does make a nice point. 53.9% of people are picking the Bulls. I'm not saying those percentages make a ton of sense. And the Bulls are home. But it's a testament to just how different this Celtics team is.
Lingering Questions:
- Does Paul Pierce have a "carry the team" performance in him? - How will Rajon Rondo fare? - Do the C's now have the thinnest front line of any playoff team? - Will Vinny Del Negro let Tyrus Thomas loose to block shots until his heart is content? - First Derrick Rose. Then Ben Gordon. Who's next? - More unlikable: Joakim Noah, Anderson Varejao or Bruce Bowen.
Couple of Random Thoughts:
- I'm convinced that a lot of NBA guys respect Chris Paul and secretly despise him. - The difference between Boston and Chicago's respective benches is outrageous. - This probably deserves it's own post, but I don't even remotely understand it. He's 34! He fumbled once and threw five picks in his last game! This is outrageous.
With about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics up 92-91, Rajon Rondo lost the ball out of bounds. The Bulls inbounded to Derrick Rose, who pushed the ball up the court ahead of the entire Celtics team and laid it in to give Chicago the lead. "Jesus, that was pathetic" I yelled (sprinkled with expletives). The next 5 minutes were probably the lowest point of the past two seasons for me. The defense was lazy, Ben Gordon couldn't miss, and at the end of it the Bulls had a five point lead and all of the momentum. I was furious. I couldn't believe that this team would allow their defensive effort to dissipate in the closing minutes of this one, wasting special performances from Big Baby, Rondo, and Perk in the process. They were going to lose, and it was going to be a death blow.
At this point, Doc called a timeout and ripped his team a new one for their lack of intensity. We all saw how it went down after the time out, and it was great. There was so much to feel good about after that win. However, I have a lot of concerns, and those need to be addressed first.
- Things are going to get much more difficult if Leon is not able to return in this series. It only took Mikki Moore 8 seconds to commit his first foul last night, and Doc's supply of front line minutes is getting more and more depleted.
- It's hard for me to even string together a rational thought about the repercussions that the Cs would face if Rondo's ankle blew up like a balloon last night and he's unable to go in Chicago.
- The bench was absolutely horrendous last night, accounting for only 9 of the Cs' total 118 points. Great bench play was an essential piece to last year's championship run. The Celtics are going to need more from these guys, especially Eddie House, going forward.
- Speaking of the bench, Tony Allen did not play a single minute last night and I don't know what to make of it. Last night seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to see heavy minutes defending Ben Gordon. At the very least, I expected to see him come in at the end with the Celts up 115-113 to defend Gordon. He didn't, and Gordon tied up the game. So, what does this mean? If we can't call on Tony Allen to come in and give good defensive minutes, especially against a team with such good scorers in the backcourt, things are going to be a lot tougher.
- I can't tell if Paul Pierce is hurt or if he is just worn down. With Deng out, I expected him to control this series and he hasn't been up to the task. He's passing up shots (huge red flag!), he is having trouble getting back every time of defense, and he hasn't seemed to be able to break down anyone off the dribble. I thought Salmons (especially with a bad groin) and Hinrich would be great matchups for him. I guess the true indicator of whether or not PP is hurt will come in Chicago. We've seen him worn down before, and he usually manages to spring back just when we need him most.
- As was the case on Saturday, there were lapses in Boston's intensity and execution. It's frustrating, and I feared it would once again cost them. It's held true over two games now: they must make getting back on D the number one priority. Although they did a better job yesterday, they still gave up far too many easy points (Chicago shot 50% from the field. Abysmal).
To alleviate this, I think Doc needs to rotate in more bench minutes. In particular, why haven't we seen Bill Walker? I know he's inexperienced, but it's not like we'd be throwing him out there against the Lakers. This is a young Bulls team. Walker would allow more rest for the starters, and I think he could match Chicago's intensity. A fucking spark! That's what this team has needed throughout this series. I really think, in this specific case, Walker can provide that spark.
So, yes, I still have a lot of concerns. But, I'm confident that things are going to pick up. Our readers all know that I have a pretty serious mancrush on Paul Pierce. Hearing his distinct, sultry voice tell me that "our best is yet to come" brought me great comfort.
Now, not to overlook the positive:
- 28 second half points for Ray, who looked like his old self down the stretch. We can all stop panicking now about a repeat playoff slump.
- It's incredible how much Rondo and Big Baby have improved their outside shot, and it gives me so much hope for the future of the Celtics post-big three. Both of these guys can now make teams pay for playing off of them (and Big Baby did, over and over again last night). This will make the Celtics even more dangerous when they are back at full strength next season.
- Rondo is a tough motherfucker. I've heard some talk from the anti-Celtics camp that he likes to ham it up a bit when he goes to the floor so that people will give him more credit for his toughness. First of all, that's ridiculous. He hits the floor hard every night. Secondly, nobody can deny that ankle last night. It was clear as day on the replay. To come back from that and still finish with a triple double is ridiculous. Add 5 steals to those triple double numbers. Hands down the most important player of the series so far. I wish he'd start padding himself up like Dwayne Wade does. It makes sense.
- The Celtics returned to their old ways and dominated the glass in this one. In particular, credit Rondo and Perk with 7 offensive boards apiece. Big Baby made up for his poor rebounding performance on Saturday, and it made his 26 points all the more impressive.
- Perk did everything in this game. He pulled down tough rebounds in traffic, he blocked a key shot at the end of the game, and his ability to work Chicago's front line on offense appeared at times in the first half to be the only constant for the Cs.
- The Bulls came in to this determined to get a split in Boston. They did a hell of a job with it. Back to back career nights from different players. However, they will not have guys step up like that every night. They can't. Just as Rose came back down to earth last night, Gordon will come down on Thursday.
- We finally saw life from this team in the second half. It came quickly once they started to build some momentum. They are better than this Chicago team, which is why I can't understand the sheepishness with which they have approached their business for much of this series. They are the world champs, and I'd like to see some front running. They play better and with a hell of a lot more intensity when they carry that attitude with them. I don't care if it takes KG taunting opponents from the bench and picking up technicals. I don't care if it takes Perk putting Noah down hard (by don't care I mean I'd fucking love it) and taking a technical. The swagger needs to return. That will get them back on defense. That will lead to more scoring. That's when the Celtics are at their best.
Final note:
After the game, my fiancee and I went across the street to the Four's for some beer and nachos. After leaving the Garden, there was no way we could just go home. Well, the next thing we know, Tommy Heinsohn is sitting in the booth right behind ours. I had a dead on view of him, and took in as much as I could. I started thinking to myself....is there a more significant Celtic that I could be looking at right now? Heinsohn won 8 rings as a player and 2 more as a coach. He was a six time all star and coach of the year. He's the face of the franchise as an announcer. Really, there is no question that this was more significant than drinking ten feet away from Larry Bird. I guess the only guy you could argue would be Bill Russell.
I kept in close contact with his waiter. He drank bloody marys and ate shrimp cocktail. That's a meal very heavy in tomatoes (lycopene, good for the prostate). Bloody Marys late at night? The man is an animal.
Hopefully this will be just what the Celtics need to get focused.
Look, this was a great game, and that's why you should feel good if you're a Celtics fan. Some analysts are saying it was the greatest opening playoff game they can remember, which is strange because I just found it incredibly frustrating. Really, with the way they were playing, the Celtics had no business being in this one. They could not have played worse. And yet, they were one missed free throw away from taking it.
Really, think about that game. Ray Allen turned in one of the worst performances of his career. 1-12 shooting, 4 points, and uncharacteristically sloppy play. Ray missed a dunk! Ray Allen, who is smoother than a fucking silk diaper on a baby's ass, clanged a dunk. Overall, 4-16 from beyond the arc yesterday for the Celtics, who were the the league's top three point shooting team this season. No mystery here, the Celtics struggle when they don't shoot well (see rough January stretch after Christmas loss to Lakers).
Glen Davis only had 3 rebounds, and that makes it hard to feel good about his scoring. The C's were outrebounded in this one (the margin was only 8 but it seemed like more). Leon Powe went virtually unnoticed, which can't happen if we are going to have any hope of making it to the Cavs.
Defensively, this was a lazy, uninspired nightmare. They were horrible in transition, and Joakim Noah reaped the benefits. Derrick Rose pushed the tempo, and the Celtics had no answer. They couldn't keep Rose in front of them, and they really struggled against the pick and roll (I'm sure they heard about that from KG immediately). I'm not too concerned here. Tom Thibodeau will make adjustments.
OK, so this was a full-blown disaster. The Celtics struggled in all areas. And, Derrick Rose turned in a perfect game. And yet, if Paul Pierce hits his last free throw with 2 seconds left, the Celtics take the game. When you take all of that into account, how could you be worried? Disappointed? Of course. That was a pretty anti-climactic way to start off the playoffs, particularly at home. If this were March Madness, we'd be devastated. But, it's not. It's a 7 game series, and I don't think the Bulls can pull this off again.
Some final loose thoughts:
- The one pleasant aspect of this matchup was watching Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo go at each other. Brilliant performances turned in by both of these guys. I can't even count how many times in the fourth quarter Rose made me say to myself "jesus, there is no fucking way we are beating this guy today." He played a perfect game.
- I am probably in the minority here, but I was impressed with Stephon Marbury's ten minutes. He was finding good, open looks for his teammates. They just weren't knocking them down.
- Kirk Hinrich is still impressive to watch defensively. He kept Rondo in front of him, and he even did a good job on Pierce.
- The Bulls, in general, did a good job denying Pierce the ball. He kept getting the ball outside the three point line. This is going to have to be remedied. In particular, they need to figure out how to get Paul the ball down low when Hinrich is on him.
- Derrick Rose shooting free throws with ten seconds left on an off the ball foul.........questionable. I might not be bringing it up if Bennett Salvatore was not officiating (we know he has NO PROBLEM putting guys on the line at the end of big games), or if Rondo hadn't chased down a loose ball and been clobbered by three Bulls without a whistle, or if a travel call on Salmons hadn't just been reversed. Whatever, I said it. The Celtics didn't deserve the win, so I'm not blaming anybody. But, it had to be said.
The handsoap on the bathroom sink has appeared to be completely empty for about a week now. Every time I finish going to the bathroom, I think "oh shit, I should have brought in a new thing of soap." And yet, every time it pumps out soap as if it were completely full. It's really amazing.
oldie but a goodie:
As you probably already know, Weeksy and I had a great meal at the Cleveland Circle Chipotle last Thursday. I'm a big believer that "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is just as relevant to the relationship between burrito establishments and people as it is to the relationships that people have with each other. Because I believe this, I was happy to meet Jim and prevent him from making any rookie mistakes that might forever taint his image of this fine burrito chain. It's not that I think the burrito wouldn't have been good if he had gone with a different set of ingredients. But, someone who goes in with no prior knowledge is most likely not going to maximize their enjoyment. The corn is the best example of this. Thanks to Ted (who chaperoned me on my first trip), I have never had a burrito at Chipotle without corn. It probably wouldn't be bad. But, it would be lacking a certain element that I notice and enjoy every time I eat there.
Anyways, we've had a lot of burrito talk this week. I won't discuss any more about the food that we ate. You can scroll down for that. Instead, I want to rehash some of the sports conversations that we had during the meal.
Now, for those of you who don't know, Weeks is Jim from Green Bandwagon , which is a much more well established site than the roomofzen. He is a great person to talk basketball, and really all sports in general, with. Our meeting (I call it a staff meeting whenever I get together with the other people on the site) came the day after James Posey signed with New Orleans, which naturally drew most of our conversation to basketball. We sort of brushed over it, agreed that it sucked, agreed that we'd both like Tony Allen and Eddie House back, and moved on.
Some issues upon which we touched (note, some day we hope to have a podcast. For now, this will have to suffice):
Sick footage of a young Dimebag Darrell (see Ted's post two below mine). From Dimevision volume 1:
1) Michael Beasley: You're probably tired of hearing me rant and rave on my soap box about how Michael Beasley was the best player in this year's draft. Well, I'm not going to stop. Weeksy and I expanded on this for quite a while, and agreed that the Derrick Rose seemed to be a product of media hype more than anything else.
Here were the main points of our discussion:
A) The notion that the Bulls should take Rose because "this is a point guard league" is based on very flawed logic. Every expert who said that followed it with "take a look at what guys like Chris Paul and Deron Williams are doing in this league." Well, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are two of the best players in the NBA. Sure, if Rose turns out to be as good as them then it will all work out. But, even then, why is this a point guard league? I feel like one person said it, and then it just caught on until everybody was saying it. One of the biggest knocks on the Celtics heading into the season was that point guard was a weak spot for them. They won the NBA championship. The team they were playing against had a point guard that is old as can be.
Look at what Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and Dwayne Wade have done. Why isn't this a 2 guard league? The point is that you need to have a well rounded team in order to be successful. The Bulls have a very full back court, and have Kirk Hinrich locked up for quite a long time. It seems to us like Beasley would have made sense.
B) Everyone has knocked Beasley's defense, but again the media have allowed the legend of his defensive shortcomings to spiral a little bit out of control. We both watched him play quite a few times last year, and he never stood out to either of us as a guy that can't defend. In fact, we both think that he seems like he will do just fine playing team defense in the NBA. The best example of a college player who I knew would struggle playing defense in the NBA was Charlie Villanueva. He was very lazy about rotating, and seemed to always be on a different page than his teammates.
Now, Villanueva was a UCONN guy so I watched him play a lot more than I watched Beasley. But, I have seen nothing to indicate to me that Beasley will be a liability on the defensive end. He might not be an all-NBA defender, but he certainly has the ability to play team defense. And, when you add his offensive abilities to that, you end up way ahead of where you started.
C) Jim has the summer off, and has been able to take in more summer basketball than I have. He assures me that seeing what Beasley has done so far in the summer league only makes it more clear that he is going to be an impact player right away.
D) Do we even need to talk about the character thing more? Practical jokes in the locker room....every team has somebody who does them to some degree. As long as fire arms and lubricant are not involved, I don't think it's a problem. Of course, there is the switching schools thing. But, I just want to point one thing out. If any of us had changed high schools, potential employers might have legitimate reasons to wonder why. But, when you are an athlete like Beasley, coaches from other high schools probably call you ALL THE TIME to try and recruit you. And, unlike many of us, he actually had legitimate reasons to consider changing high schools. He was probably always on the lookout for the best place to get exposure.
At this point, we went off about how most guys that get passed for character issues despite freakish ability end up fine. We talk about how Warren Sapp went twelfth and Randy Moss went 21st.
We then keep talking about how absurd it is that Randy Moss went 21st.
"Didn't they watch him play? What the fuck is wrong with them? He wasn't human in college!"
"But, remember, he's so good that it doesn't LOOK like he's running fast."
"Yeah, but don't they have combine numbers? Isn't it there job to know if he's so good that he doesn't look like he's running fast?"
"Dallas passed on him. When has Dallas ever been worried about character issues?"........On and on we went.
As a side note, isn't it strange that Warren Sapp went 12th, Randy Moss went 21st, and yet Lawrence Phillips went 6th. Of the three, I really think Phillips had the most legitimate character questions. And, I think we can all agree that he didn't exactly "pan out".
Anyways, by the end we were sure that Chicago had made a mistake. Weeksy finished it of by saying "by the time the season is about half-way over, I think everyone is going to be wondering how they talked themselves into Derrick Rose."
2) Remember when the Bulls Refused to Part with Luol Deng?
So, somewhere in here I mention that Villanueva left college too early, and we get into guys who either left college early or should have gone to college. I assert that Gerald Green should have gone to college. He is extremely talented, but far too undeveloped. Unlike Beasley, who can find ways to score while being double teamed, Green doesn't know how to score when someone has him squared up. He may have developed this in college. The transition from dunking over high schoolers to the NBA was not a smooth one for him.
Anyways, Jim says that he thinks Deng could have used another year. He then says "remember how the Bulls wouldn't trade him last off-season no matter what?" For some reason I thought that this was the funniest thing. The Bulls faded into obscurity so fast last season, that their whole storyline was completely forgotten. But, remember how firm they were on not giving up Deng. Paul Pierce was out there in the spring. Kobe was out there until the fall. There were real chances for them to make a move there. But, they literally would not part with Luol Deng under any circumstances. It seems funny now, partially because I had forgotten all about it. Probably a good move for them. Kobe wasn't very good this year.
3) WEEI sucks.
This conversation was very refreshing for me to have. And, I have made a lot of changes in my life since it happened. I now realize that I was driving around in a prison that I created for myself. There are no laws that say I have to listen to sports radio when I drive, especially if it sucks.
We agreed on the following points:
- Dennis and Callahan barely even talk sports. I don't like listening to them. Some assert that it's because they are conservative and I am liberal but it's not (although they are very dismissive of opposing points of view). It's not. I have no problem with people that have different views than me. I do, however, have problems with people that advertise a sports show and deliver me something totally different.
- We like Dale and Holley. In fact, they are the only legitimately good daytime show on WEEI. And, for this, they are mocked incessantly by Dennis and Callahan and also by the Big Show guys.
- The Big Show is absurd. Weeksy believes that the Big O could be good at his job if he cared more about it. I'm not necessarily sure if I agree, but I do agree that he is a million times easier to listen to than Steve DeOssie, Fred Smerlas, or Butch Stearns. I can't handle Tony Masserotti either. We both remembered the spring of 2007, the day after Paul Pierce had made statements that he didn't want to be part of the rebuilding process, when it was very clear that nobody besides Ordway had any idea about the state of the Celtics. Now, granted the people they had on were baseball and football people (I believe Smerlas was on because it was draft weekend) but IT IS THEIR JOB TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THIS STUFF!
And the Whiner line, the goddamn whiner line. It sucks. It's not funny. It's the same people saying the same shit every day. Jim thinks it could work as a weekly thing, maybe every Friday. I'm willing to concede this. Some of those jokes might be less not funny if I only heard them once a week.
- Mikey Adams is entertaining. That's about all I'll say.
Here, I mention that the Big Show guys mock Mike and the Mad Dog all of the time. It pisses me off because I know that WFAN is a much better station than WEEI. On top of that, Mike and the Mad Dog do a MUCH better job of talking sports in a knowledgeable way that reflects actual preparation. And, they talk about sports from all over the country. Weeksy agrees that Mike and the Mad Dog is far superior to the Big Show. I knew it already, but it feels good to hear someone who is a fan of all Boston teams say it.
Then, we wonder how in the world this could be the nation's top rated sports radio network. Sure, there are tons of Boston fans and they love their sports, but don't we have standards?
This is when I start to realize that music is a better option for me than Dennis and Callahan or the Big Show. I've been much happier since.
Before we move on, I need to speak about Michael Beasley once more. I really do believe he was the best player in the draft. Even as I saw the Bulls taking Derrick Rose, I felt like they were making the wrong move. Beasley is going to step in and make an impact right away. On top of that, as the analysts alluded to, the Bulls already have a lot of money invested in that back court. As you can see here (warning, you may throw up when you actually see Larry Hughes' contract charted out year by year), they have Kirk Hinrich, who is a pretty damn good point guard, locked up for the next four seasons. I'll really never understand why people soured on Beasley so much as the draft approached, but I was glad to see that the Heat had the sense to make the right call.
Speaking of salary cap situations, I had to look up the Knicks also just for fun. A lot of Knicks fans think that D'Antoni was brought in to suffer through this season and then to work with a team that management would build for him once they got some money off the books. Well, anybody that thinks Eddie Curry is opting out of this money is fucking crazy. As long as he doesn't eat himself to death like Pizza the Hut, he's going to be there for the next three seasons. Look at Zach Randolph's money too. God that hurts. Did I mention that the Jazz have the Knicks first round pick in 2010. No wonder those fans were so angry.
I was really hoping that Darrell Arthur would fall to the Celtics at 30. I never expected it heading into the draft, but once we hit about pick number 24 I started to become optimistic. Obviously, we missed out. After that I was really hoping for Mario Chalmers or Chris Douglass-Roberts (hats off to the Nets for getting Douglass-Roberts at 40. Who would have thought?). The JR Giddens pick threw me off completely, but now I feel pretty good about it.
- Giddens is a senior, which means that he is more likely to have an impact right away. This is a big plus in my mind.
- Jay Bilas had great things to say about Giddens as a player, but mentioned that his drawbacks are that he has had some issues off the court and that he has been hard to control. I think sometimes we all need to remember (and this was the case with Beasley as well) that these guys are young. Think about your college days and the people you knew who are perfectly good and professional people now. What kinds of things may have come out about them heading into the draft?:
"well, we've heard that this guy and a friend crushed up a large bag of salt and vinegar chips and dumped them all over a Dead River pizza. No word as to what caused such hunger"...
"apparently an e-mail with very sketchy photos of this person putting on a glove were accidentally sent to the entire college administration".....
"apparently this guy would occasionally have too much to drink and would then run around the college dining hall waving an American flag"....
"We've got photos of this guy...humping.......a keg......in public....during the day.".....
"We hear that this guy actually boarded himself in a room with four other guys, leaving only small openings for pizza delivery, and the five of them drank an entire keg before forcefully breaking through the barricade that they had created. All this in just under twelve hours. Pat Riley is concerned."...
The point here is that I'm not surprised that many of these guys need to mature. Imagine being a 19 year old college student and having scouts probing into your personal life.
- They said that Giddens has been hard to control even as a teammate and player before. If he does step out of line, I have a feeling KG will handle it.
- Giddens played at Kansas and New Mexico and had great stats in college. Also, here is a video showing Giddens freakish athletic abilities (dunking in warmups at Kansas and New Mexico and also in dunk contests):
sick.
So, I feel pretty good about the Giddens pick. There seems to be a lot of upside there, and I think drafting guys that are relatively old makes sense given the Celtics current state. Overall, the Celtics scouting team has done a great job under Danny Ainge, and I trust them on this one.
What struck me even more, and really gave me the energy to write this post, was the announcement at about ten minutes to midnight that the Celtics had acquired Billy Walker from the Wizards for cash considerations. I had almost gone to bed, and I'm really glad that I stayed awake to get this news. Walker is a great fit for the Celtics. He has been described as an explosive athlete that will be able to provide a lot of energy off the bench in limited minutes, which is exactly what the Celtics need. When I heard Bilas talking about him after Washington took him I thought "god, that guy sounds perfect for the Celtics", and then it happened. If things work out right, this Celtics squad will have a lot of young talent and they will be very deep.
There have been a lot of rumors swirling around over the past week or so about Mike and the Mad Dog (Sports Radio WFAN, New York) splitting up. The pair have maintained that this is not true, and that their recent issues are natural in a partnership that lasts for roughly 20 years.
They aren't totally convincing. They have cited the fact that they are under contract as proof that they are not splitting up, but this indicates to me that a break up is somewhere in the future. This would be a crushing blow to sports radio. I always imagined these guys staying together until they retired, teammates for their whole career. Bill Simmons and Jack-O touched on it in the most recent BS Report and, along with doing great impersonations, made some great points. To hear Mike Francesa or Chris Mad Dog Russo doing radio with new partners would just be wrong.
I truly believe that Mike and the Mad Dog is the best spors radio show out there. One of the greatest things about being a Giants fan is that I was able to get the experience of listening to them pretty regularly. I'll be honest, I'd rather listen to them discuss the American League West than listen to anything on the Big Show or Dennis and Callahan. Really, unless it's Mikey Adams or Dale and Holley, I could take or leave WEEI. For now, let's all hope that these rumors of their split are truly rumors and nothing else.
Now, some Mike and the Mad Dog Videos (and I can assure you that if they do split up, this site will have a lot more of these for about a month):
1) I've posted this tons of times, but it never gets old. Here is Mad Dog going on his famous rant about Pacman Jones. Love it.
2) Here's Mad Dog Russo again with an even better rant after the San Francisco Giants were eliminated by the Marlins in '03, just like in '97(note, he is a huge SF Giants fan):
3) Here is a video of both of them (Mad Dog Russo on the left, Mike Francesa on the right) in classic form ripping Brian Cashman for apparently never shutting up during their interview with him (they have Cashman every week).
4) Finally, a guy calls and asks Francesa why he wasn't on Letterman with Russo. Seems like no big deal, but if there is a riff you have to wonder if it isn't related to this in some way. It seems like Russo is more popular (on Letterman several times). Just the fact that there are tons of Russo videos out there and far fewer of Francesa says it all. But, to hear them together for a whole show is to really be enlightened. Russo is crazy and Francesa is always overly calm. Somehow it works. It wouldn't if they were separate. Anyways, here's the clip:
I apologize for the blurriness of the screen shot from Streak for Cash. However, if you can make it out it does make a nice point. 53.9% of people are picking the Bulls. I'm not saying those percentages make a ton of sense. And the Bulls are home. But it's a testament to just how different this Celtics team is.
