If you want to understand why Chicago is sitting at 1-2, look directly at a defense that is bleeding a staggering 128.0 points per game. Sure, Caleb Wilson is putting up 22.3 a night to keep the offensive engine humming at 114.7 points per contest, but you cannot outrun a broken defensive scheme when you shoot 41 percent from the floor as a team. Throw in a banged-up frontcourt with Patrick Williams and Noa Essengue both listed as game-time decisions, and the Bulls are rolling into Boston with paper-thin depth and zero margin for error.
The 1-1 Celtics haven't fully clicked into gear yet at 110.0 points per game, but TD Garden is where bad defensive habits go to get punished. Paul George is orchestrating the scoring load at 26.5 points per game while Jayson Tatum is operating as the primary initiator with 9.0 assists, giving Boston a crisp 46 percent field-goal rate that will ruthlessly exploit Chicago's back-line rotations. Even with Devin Carter sidelined, Boston's defensive baseline—holding opponents to 112.0 points—is simply on a different planet than Chicago's current wire-to-wire chaos. Lock in your prediction or jump into the debate right now on StreakChat before tip-off at 7:30 PM EDT.