• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Celtics hope to send a message to East-leading Bulls

Apr 7, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - If the Boston Celtics plan to take one more run at the top spot in the Eastern Conference, they will have to bring their "A-game" to the Windy City tonight against the Chicago Bulls.

The Atlantic Division champion Celtics are three full games behind the Central kings, the Bulls, with just five games left in the regular season for both clubs. A loss tonight by Boston would all but eliminate the C's in the race for the top seed.

"It's going to be like Game 1 of a playoff series between teams trying to get to the Finals," Celtics forward Jeff Green said. "We've just got to come out, focus on the defensive end, and be sure we're ready to play."

"Playoffs is like the main course," Boston superstar Kevin Garnett added. "This will definitely be the appetizer."

In their last encounter on Tuesday the defending East champs dismantled long- time rival Philadelphia when Rajon Rondo finished with 16 points and 13 assists, as the Celtics used a dominant second half to beat the 76ers, 99-82, at TD Garden.

Paul Pierce added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who won their second straight game by limiting the 76ers to 32 points in the final two quarters.

"I really liked the way we played in the second half," Pierce said. "Came out in the third quarter with more of a sense of urgency, a lot more solid on defense."

Boston also pulled even with idle Miami for second place in the East and now leads the Heat by one-half game after Milwaukee upset Miami in South Beach on Wednesday.

The Bulls, meanwhile, kept sailing along Tuesday when MVP candidate Derrick Rose scored 19 points and helped Chicago hang on for a 97-94 victory over the Phoenix Suns at the United Center.

Rose is currently averaging 25.1 points per game, 7.9 apg and 4.2 rpg and has a chance to finish the year as only the seventh player in NBA history with averages of 24.0 ppg, 8.0 apg and 4.0 rpg or better, joining the likes of Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton and LeBron James.

Luol Deng added 18 points against Phoenix for the Bulls, who have won four in a row, eight of nine and 16 of 18 overall. Carlos Boozer finished with 12 points, nine boards and seven assists for Chicago, which now has 57 wins on the season, the most for the franchise since it finished 62-20 back in 1997-98.

"A win is a win, but we're not moving in the right direction if we want to do something special," Rose said.

Chicago has lost two of three games to the Celtics during 2010-11 but the lone win came in the Second City on Jan. 8 by a 90-79 score. Overall, the Bulls are a gaudy 34-5 on the season in Chi-town, tied with San Antonio for the best home mark in the NBA.

"It's always about readiness to play," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau told the Chicago Tribune. "[The Celtics] are a very talented team. They're well- coached. There's not anything we're doing that they don't know. There's not anything they're doing that we don't know.

"It'll come down to how well each team executes. They're the defending Eastern Conference champions. Until someone knocks them off, you have to be ready to compete with them."

Thibodeau, a leading candidate for Coach of the Year, was an assistant under Doc Rivers in Boston from 2007-10 and has already set the record for most wins by a first year coach in Chicago.