NBA playoffs: Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics, Game 1
By now you no doubt know that the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics are not expecting to have Kevin Garnett for this postseason because of his knee injury.
Boston’s first-round opponents, the Chicago Bulls, aren’t buying it heading into Saturday’s opening game.
“Kevin could say all of a sudden he feels better and wants to play 20 minutes,” Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We’ll prepare for both ways just to cover our bases. That’s the smart thing to do. They have a very, very strong team, so there’s a lot to worry about, not just Kevin.”
Boston, the East’s No. 2 seed, remains a big series favorite on WagerWeb.com at -550.
The Celtics went 18-7 without Garnett in the lineup this season, which included a 121-121 loss in Chicago on March 17. In that game, Chicago’s John Salmons scored a career-high 38 points to outduel Boston’s Paul Pierce, who had 37. But Salmons is hurting with a sore groin and had just 12 points total in the final two games of the regular season.
“We really think we can go out and compete with the best teams in the league,” Salmons said. “We’ve shown that. Everybody is going into the series thinking we’ve got a great chance to win. If we play our style of basketball, we’ve got a chance.”
The small forward matchup will obviously be a key to this first-round series, and the Bulls need Salmons as healthy as possible.
“He’s a tough cover,” Salmons said of Pierce. “He’s got every move in the book. He’s real herky-jerky. He’s one of those guys where every jab step or pump fake he makes, you have to respect it because there’s nothing he can’t do on offense.”
Before Garnett’s injury, the Celtics were allowing just 92.0 points per game. Since his injury, they are surrendering 97.1 points.
Leon Powe will most likely get the start in place of Garnett. Powe made his second appearance since missing 13 games with a strained right knee in a win over Washington on Wednesday, scoring 18 points and adding 13 rebounds.
The Celtics won two of three against the Bulls this year. Chicago will need more from Ben Gordon than it got in the regular-season meetings. The Bulls’ leading scorer averaged just 12.7 points in the three games and was outplayed by Ray Allen. It also will be interesting to see how Bulls rookie Derrick Rose fares in his first playoffs. If he plays like he did down the stretch this season, this series will go at least six games.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Favorite is 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
* Home team is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
* Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Boston.
* Bulls are 1-7 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
* Bulls are 0-4 ATS in the last 4 meetings in Boston.
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