Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, November, 1st, 2021 

Venue: TD Garden, Boston Massachusetts

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Celts -2.5 :  O/U: 

BetMGM:  Spread: Celts -2.5:  O/U: 

Bulls: 5-1, 1st place (tied) Eastern Conference

Celtics: 2-4, Eastern Conference

Over the last 7-8 years the Celtics have been building a contender from meager beginnings.  Celtic legend and then GM Danny Ainge pulled off the trade of the century in 2013 by sending Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets for a bunch of lesser known players, 3 first round picks and the rights to swap another first round pick!  It was a jackpot.  Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were over the hill and simply weren’t winning with the Nets… making the picks even more valuable.  Danny had all the momentum to build a dynasty… then he didn’t.  Even after winning another trade (1st pick Markell Fultz, for 3rd pick Jayson Tatum AND a future pick)... he never turned all those picks into more than Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown… both great, but it took a lot of bad luck to keep selecting and still have just two stars.  The Celtics never made it to the mountaintop and now they are dropping in importance to the middle of the Eastern Conference pack.  Danny Ainge is gone… Brad Steven has moved up to his job.  The big problem with all those years of picks… Danny kept drafting versions of himself; undersized and skilled. Also he kept toying with point guards.  The net effect was a roster of small skilled players that kept getting pushed around under the basket in big games.  The Celtics are projected to no better than sixth place in the east this year.  The franchise has fallen.  

The Bulls are back!  A real team will take the court in the United Center this regular season.  Last season the Bulls hired Marc Eversley as their GM… immediately he filled the inbox of every other GM with daring trade proposals. The smartest bet to lift this team out of never-ending mediocrity would be to keep the heart and do a full transplant of every other organ.  They added a Center from Orlando, a PG from New Orleans, a SF/PF from San Antonio, a backup PG from LA… They kept SG Zach Lavine, the heart.  Since the season’s opening tip-off the whole league has been amending their NBA predictions and declaring “it’s alive!!”.  

Al McMordie was 10-6 yesterday, including 3-2 in the NBA with winners on the Philly 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls. Big Al's now 93-53 his last 146, including 17-9 in basketball. On Sunday, pick up Big Al's NBA High Roller Winner out of a VIRTUALLY PERFECT 17-1 ATS angle. Go get it! Get Big Al’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

RECENT FORM

The Bulls have lost only once in 6 games, to the New York Knicks 104-103.  Opening the season on a four-game winning streak against Detroit, New Orleans, Detroit again, and the Toronto Raptors got everyone excited… then the 1 point loss to the Knicks (also a 5-1 team)... then a quick win over the Utah Jazz.  They have a tough stretch of games after Boston, making winning this contest important.

The Celtics as usual are getting great performances out of Tatum and Brown… yet unlike usual they aren’t winning. The season is young, it could be a matter of the roster getting acclimated to life after Kemba Walker or needing to get healthy.  Of course that is hardly an excuse to lose twice to the Wizards, another to The Raptors, and another to the Knicks.  They have won two games in the first six… The Houston Rockets and the Charlotte Hornets.   The lineup needs something else, but from who?

The Chicago Bulls are 10th in offensive rating with a score of 107.  They are 4th in assist-to turnover ratio 1.90 (thank you Lonzo) and 16th in effective field goal percentage 51.1%.  Through the first 6 games they are posting +7.7 net rating from their offense over their defense… They have not had a positive net rating since Tom Thibideau was the coach 2010-2015.

The Boston Celtics are 20th in offensive rating 103.5 and posting a -4.3 net rating from their offense over their defense.  They are 22nd in effective field goal percentage 49.8.  They are 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio.  So, they are not a good shooting team… not a good statement when the two stars are both volume shooters.

Our prediction for Monday, November, 1st is…  Bulls 115 - Celtics 103

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Boston is 3-2 ATS versus the Bulls over the past 3 seasons.

The 1 game played in this series at Boston went UNDER in the last 3 seasons.

Chicago is 53-26 ATS versus Boston since 1996.

Injury Report:

Bulls:  SF/PF Patrick Williams (wrist) Out for season (this is a big loss)  ** SG Coby White (shoulder) Out indefinitely.

Celtics: PG Marcus Smart (illness) Quest ** C Robert Williams (illness) Quest

Bulls: PG Lonzo Ball, SG Zach Lavine, SF Javonte Green, PF DeMar DeRozan, C Nikola Vucevic

Celtics: PG Payton Pritchard, SG Jaylen Brown, SF Jayson Tatum, PF Al Horford, C Enes Kanter

Bulls

Points: Zach LaVine 25.5

Rebounds: Nick Vucevic 11

Assists: Zach LaVine 4.5

Steals: Alex Caruso 2.7

Blocks: Lonzo Ball

Celtics:

Points: Jayson Tatum 26.7

Rebounds: Robert Williams III 9.2

Assists: Dennis Schroder 6.7

Steals: Marcus Smart 2.6

Blocks: Robert Williams III 3.2

Bulls: Billy Donovan.  Yes, the same Billy Donavan that coached 2 NCAA tournament Championships in Florida… and the same Billy Donovan who spent the last five seasons as the Head Coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and got to watch up close as that franchise imploded because of Kevin Durant leaving.

Celtics: Ime Udoka.  Rookie head coach… is he the next Red Auerbach or the next Jimmy Rogers?