How we see it goin' down: Cs vs Bulls

Tip: 8pm Court: United Center Watch it: TNT Hear it: WEEI

Referees: Ron Garretson, Mark Ayotte and David Guthrie

The Matchup


Record: 54-23 (1st Atlantic, 3rd East)	Record: 57-20 (1st Central, 1st East)
On road: 23-15	On road: 34-5
Streak: Won 2	Streak: Won 4
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (18.8 ppg)	Buckets: Derrick Rose (25.1 ppg)
Boards: KG (8.9 rpg)	Boards: Joakim Noah (10.9 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (11.3 apg)	Dimes: Rose (7.98 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 106.7 (18th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 108.2 (12th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 100.1 (1st NBA)	Defensive Rating: 100.3 (2nd NBA)
Pace: 90.3 (23rd NBA)	Pace: 88.9 (28th NBA)

Last time

Chicago beat Boston 90-79 back in January. The officials gave Derrick Rose 19 trips to the free throw line in that game. The Celtics team had 22 FTs. Kevin Garnett and Joakim Noah did not play. The Celtics lead the season series 2-1.

This time

Get it to: Ray Allen

Who is the weak link in the Bulls starting 5? Keith Bogans. He's a good defender, but I don't see him sticking with Ray as he comes off multiple screens. Tonight's the night for Ray to have a breakout game.

Gotta stop: Joakim Noah

Is Jermaine O'Neal ready to handle this high-energy monster? JO and Nads will have to bust their asses to keep this guy off the offensive boards. Noah missed three games with a sprained ankle but returned to play 28 minutes in Tuesday night's win vs the Suns.

The Wild Card: Rajon Rondo's defense

Which Rondo will show up? The one who let the Sixers' Jrue Holiday score 11 first quarter points on Tuesday? Or the guy who didn't let Holiday score the rest of the night? I'm begging Rondo to bring his defensive A game into the United Center. Staying in front of Derrick Rose and limiting penetration would be huge for the Celtics.

How we see it goin' down

The Bulls have just about wrapped up the top seed in the East, but I still see the Celtics coming out with some fire for this one. Chicago has garnered all the headlines over the past month (and rightfully so) and the Cs might want to remind them (and the media) that they ain't dead yet. I'm going with the Celtics 89-84.

After the jump, some advance scouting on the Bulls dancers. That's right… I'm dusting off the advanced scouting report. This is a big game…