Game 52 Preview: Bulls at Celtics

After a disappointing loss on Monday night, the Celtics (27-24) will look to rebound against the Chicago Bulls (30-21). Tonight's game marks the fourth and final regular season meeting between these two teams.

Chicago last played on Monday night when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 103-89. In that game, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker did not even play, and the Spurs still won by double-digits.

The Celtics may be catching the Bulls at the perfect time. Chicago comes into tonight's game losers of 4 of its last 6, Joakim Noah is hindered by plantar fasciitis -- although Noah said after this morning's shootaround that he will play tonight -- and Derrick Rose said yesterday that he's still "far away" from a return. Throw in the fact that Doc Rivers might allow his veterans to go beyond their minute restrictions with this being the final game before the All-Star break, and the Celtics have a chance to go into the unofficial halfway mark of the season on a high note.

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Bulls:
Nate Robinson
Richard Hamilton
Luol Deng
Carlos Boozer
Joakim Noah

Celtics:
Courtney Lee
Avery Bradley
Paul Pierce
Brandon Bass
Kevin Garnett


Keys to the game:

1. STAY OUT!: In the three games they've played against each other, Chicago has averaged 41.3 points in the paint. Chicago has also killed Boston on the boards. So what do the Celtics do? Get Chicago out of the paint. Make the Bulls a jump-shooting team. Chicago is only shooting 34.8% from beyond the arc, and they don't have a lot of good shooters.

2. Contain Boozer: Carlos Boozer has been a Celtic-killer this season. In three games against the Celtics, Boozer is averaging 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds, and is shooting 52.1%. Boozer grabbed 20 rebounds back on January 18, which was the third-highest total for a single player against the Celtics in the Kevin Garnett era. It goes without saying that the Celtics need to make sure that doesn't happen again, and it also goes without saying that the Celtics cannot let Boozer take over the game. Look for the Celtics to give Boozer some different looks. Kevin Garnett should see most of the time on Boozer, but Brandon Bass, Jason Collins and Chris Wilcox will all take turns defending him.