- 1 Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls: Chicago gives up 128 a night and heads to TD Garden without Claxton
- 2 Boston Celtics: Paul George has scored 38 and Tatum 36, just never on the same night
- 3 Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson shines on a team that has allowed 124 or more three times
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
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Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls: Chicago gives up 128 a night and heads to TD Garden without Claxton 
Chicago trailed the Washington Wizards by 21 points in its own home opener on Saturday and lost 120-124. That came three nights after a 92-135 beating in Toronto, and the Bulls now carry a 1-2 record and an average of 128.0 points allowed into Boston.
The Celtics host Chicago on Monday, October 26, with tip-off at 7:30pm ET at TD Garden. Boston sits at 1-1 after a road loss in Detroit and a 107-103 win over the New York Knicks in its home opener on Friday.
The schedule leans Boston’s way too. Chicago played Saturday night at the United Center and travels east on one day of rest. The Celtics haven’t played since Friday, so they get two days off and no travel before tip-off.
Last season’s numbers point in the same direction. Boston went 56-26 and allowed 107.2 points per game on 44.2% shooting. Chicago finished 31-51 and gave up 121.5 a night, 28th in the league, and three games into the Tiago Splitter era that defensive number has gone up, not down.
The Celtics also took the 2025-26 season series 2-1, with both wins coming in Boston: 115-101 on January 5 and 124-105 on February 11. Chicago’s only win was 114-111 at home on January 24, and Boston has won eight of the last ten meetings overall.
I’d boil this game down to one question. Can a Bulls team without its starting center keep Jayson Tatum and Paul George away from the rim and off the free throw line for 48 minutes? Nothing from the first week of the season says it can.
Boston Celtics: Paul George has scored 38 and Tatum 36, just never on the same night 
Paul George scored 38 points in his Celtics debut in Detroit, hitting 7 of 12 threes and adding five steals, a franchise record for a debut. Boston still lost 113-121, because the Pistons closed the night on a 23-0 run after the Celtics had led by 22.
Tatum had the opposite evening. He went 6 for 23 from the floor and 0 for 7 from three, finishing with 13 points and 11 assists. Three nights later he answered with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Boston held off the defending champion Knicks 107-103.
George is the headline of Boston’s offseason. The Celtics sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for him and draft picks at the start of July, and the early return is 26.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Tatum is averaging 24.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists across the two games.
Coach Joe Mazzulla is getting production from the bench as well. Neemias Queta came in against New York and posted 15 points and three blocks, and Payton Pritchard scored 17 in Detroit. Derrick White is at 14.5 points and 7.0 assists per game.
Rebounding is the one soft spot so far. Detroit won the boards 49-39 on opening night, with Jalen Duren putting up 22 points and nine rebounds. Devin Carter remains out with an illness, which trims the guard rotation by one but leaves the frontcourt untouched.
Boston has scored 110.0 points per game and allowed 112.0, middling numbers built against the Pistons and the champions. Against a Chicago defense that has allowed at least 124 points in every game, I expect that scoring average to climb on Monday.
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Chicago Bulls: Caleb Wilson shines on a team that has allowed 124 or more three times 
Caleb Wilson, the No. 4 pick in June’s draft, scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Washington on Saturday for his first NBA double-double. He went 9 of 11 from the line and is averaging 22.3 points and 8.0 rebounds through three games.
Norman Powell has been the other steady scorer. Signed from Miami on July 1 on a two-year, $45 million deal, he scored 25 in the 132-125 win in Milwaukee and 18 with four steals against the Wizards. Matas Buzelis added 21 on Saturday after sitting the entire fourth quarter in Milwaukee.
The defense is where Chicago’s week came apart. Toronto scored 135 with Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and Kawhi Leonard putting up 23 points each. Tyler Herro scored 34 for the Bucks in a game the Bulls still won, and Washington got 25 points and nine assists from Trae Young, 22 from Kyshawn George and 19 from Anthony Davis.
Nic Claxton’s absence explains part of that. The center has a hamstring injury, and the team said on October 19 he’d be re-evaluated in two weeks, so Jalen Smith has started in his place. Smith posted 14 points and 13 rebounds in Milwaukee, and added 12 points against Washington on Saturday.
The injury list goes further. Patrick Williams hasn’t played in any of the three games, and Noa Essengue is out with a head contusion. That leaves Splitter, hired in June after Billy Donovan resigned, with a thin frontcourt for a road game against two high-volume wings.
Josh Giddey is the other worry. He’s averaging 5.7 points and 8.3 assists, and he was held out of crunch time in Milwaukee along with Buzelis. In the Toronto loss he scored two points with seven rebounds and six assists.
Probable lineup Boston Celtics: Not announced at time of publication
Probable lineup Chicago Bulls: Not announced at time of publication
Free NBA Prediction: Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls
Our prediction: Boston Celtics to win
Boston has two days of rest against a Chicago team on one day and a flight. The Bulls have allowed 135, 125 and 124 points in their three games, and their starting center isn’t due to be re-evaluated until early November. George and Tatum have each already produced a 36-plus scoring night, and neither needed the other to get there.
The case for Chicago rests on Wilson and Powell dragging the game into a shootout, as they did in Milwaukee. That worked once in three tries, against a Bucks team that let Herro score 34. Boston allowed 107.2 points a night last season and held the Knicks to 103 on Friday.
No line had been posted at the time of writing. I’d take the Celtics straight up, and a double-digit margin wouldn’t surprise me, given Boston beat Chicago by 14 and 19 at TD Garden last season.
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