In the back end of back-to-back games, second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls are set to take on the Boston Celtics on the road to try and stave off a losing skid from moving to three games. The Bulls moved their losing streak to two games in the front end of these back-to-back outings this weekend.
On the night of Jan. 14, the Bulls fell short to the Golden State Warriors and superstar point guard Stephen Curry at home at the United Center by the final score of 138-96. It was a second straight embarrassing loss for Donovan and the Bulls after a huge second-half collapse at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets and the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and James Harden back on Jan. 12.
This is a big game for the Bulls to get back on the right side of the win column. The Bulls would be really in danger of losing their top spot in the Eastern Conference standings if they fall short to the Celtics on this night. The Bulls bring in a record of 27-13 into this meeting with the Celtics following their bad loss to the Warriors on Jan. 14.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are playing some up and down basketball of late. They carry a record of 21-22 into this meeting with the Bulls following a 111-99 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 14. This is also the back end of back-to-back games for the Celtics.
Here’s a look into the betting odds and prediction as the Bulls take on the Celtics on the road at the TD Garden on Jan. 15, with tip-off time set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics betting odds
According to WynnBet, the Bulls are 6.5-point underdogs against the Celtics in this game. And the over/under is set at 214 points.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Bulls just a 21.1 percent chance to win this game.
Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics prediction
The injury issues will continue for the Bulls heading into this game. Not only is star shooting guard Zach LaVine out for the Bulls in this game, point guard Lonzo Ball was recently added to the injury report too. Lonzo is out for the Bulls due to knee soreness that he’s apparently dealt with recently.
LaVine also injured his knee early on in the meeting with the Warriors in the front end of these back-to-back games. This is all not to mention the fact that the Bulls are still missing the likes of point guard Alex Caruso, shooting guard/forward Javonte Green, and forward Derrick Jones Jr.
The Bulls really couldn’t afford to be missing another key piece of the rotation such as Lonzo at this point. This is going to place a huge emphasis on star forward DeMar DeRozan carrying the load for the Bulls.
DeRozan and the Bulls are going to face a Celtics team that is hungry to finally get on the right side of the win column themselves on a consistent basis. It will not be easy to take on the star forward/wing duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on this night.
Unless the likes of DeRozan and center Nikola Vucevic can come through with a massive performance against the Celtics, this looks like a difficult one for the Bulls to pull out in the end. It’s hard not to give the edge to the Celtics in this game.