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League-best Celtics aim for sweep of Bulls

Apr 1, 2008 - 1:48 PM Boston (58-15) at Chicago (29-44) 8:30 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Boston Celtics aim to inch closer to home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday when they host the Chicago Bulls.

Boston, which has won more games than it had the previous two seasons combined, is looking for its first season sweep of the Bulls since the 1986-87 season.

The Celtics dismantled the Miami Heat, 88-62, on Sunday to lower their magic number for clinching the best record in the league to three games. Boston holds a six-game lead over Detroit with nine games left. The Celtics also own the tiebreaker.

The Celtics, who lead the league in field goal percentage defense, held the a Heat to a shot-clock era low 17 field goals. Granted Miami's roster is in disarray.

"They got D-Leaguers out there so I think we just handled our business," forward Paul Pierce said. "I mean they put about four or five guys from the D-League in and we did our business, we're supposed to do that."

Pierce and the starters got a lot of rest in Sunday's win. It could be more of the same the rest of the way, as the Celtics play eight of their last nine games against opponents with losing records.

That stretch starts with the Bulls, who they may face in the first round of the playoffs. Chicago, which is four games behind Atlanta (33-40) for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, is coming off a 114-111 win over Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Bulls have struggled against Boston, losing all three meetings by an average of 20 points.