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The Chicago Bulls have lost good-looking young forward Patrick Williams to a season-ending wrist injury and the Bulls play their first road game since Williams went down on Monday in Boston. The Celtics will be favored on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Chicago at Boston NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: TBA (Celtics will be favored)

Series History

This is the first meeting of the season between the teams. Chicago won two of three last season, including the final one 121-99. Coby White and Zach LaVine each scored 25 points. Nikola Vučević chipped in a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. White is currently out injured. Boston leads all-time 126-106.

Why Bet on Chicago?

The Bulls upset visiting Utah 107-99 on Saturday in Chicago’s first game since losing second-year forward Patrick Williams to a season-ending wrist injury. DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 32 points. Zach LaVine, playing through an injury himself, had 26 points and five rebounds with not a single turnover. LaVine has scored 20+ in all but one game this season. Fellow All-Star Nikola Vucevic shot just 4-for-19 but had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

LaVine and DeRozan each have five games with 20+ points this season, and they are the only teammates to meet those criteria. No other team has more than one such scorer. Lonzo all is the one of two players in the NBA so far this season to have recorded at least 12 total steals and eight total blocks, and the only one to do so with more than 25 assists.

As for Williams, he had surgery over the weekend to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist. Williams tumbled out of the air on a flagrant foul by New York’s Mitchell Robinson on Thursday, landing on his left wrist and suffering a severe perilunate dislocation. The Bulls announced a four- to six-month timeframe for Williams’ recovery following surgery.

Looking at Williams’ per-game stats doesn’t suggest Chicago will miss him much. Williams was averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, down from his marks starting all 71 games as a rookie (9.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG). However, he’s a very good defender. Chicago’s depth at forward was a concern after the team traded key reserve Thaddeus Young as part of the August sign-and-trade deal to add DeRozan, and losing Williams only exacerbates the situation. Williams’ injury potentially opens the door for more playing time for Javonte Green, Derrick Jones Jr. or Troy Brown Jr., though it comes at the expense of the bench, which already is thin with Coby White out following shoulder surgery.

“So there is no clear cut position or role for anybody on this team,” Coach Billy Donovan said. “Nothing goes perfectly to plan. So I think we all have to be ready to step in and do whatever it takes. From what I could see last year, an NBA season never goes perfect. Every team has a plan that they start out with, but it rarely ever goes like that. So I think it’s all about everybody being ready to step up and doing whatever it takes to win.”

Why Bet on Boston?

The Celtics come off their second straight loss, 115-112 in double overtime at Washington. Jaylen Brown had 34 points for the Celtics, who lost for the second time in three overtime games this season to drop to 2-4. The Celtics played only four overtime periods in all of the previous season. It marked the second time this season in which Brown scored more than 30 points in a game. Boston has lost both in double OT.

“We shot the ball terribly tonight, but it was kind of old-school where it was just rebound and attack the paint,” Brown said. “Despite not shooting the ball well, we still could’ve won this game, and that’s the sign of a good team. We’ve just got to figure it out at the end. We were right there. Tough loss, but we had tremendous fight about ourselves. I think we played the game the right way, for the most part.”

The Celtics couldn’t get much going from outside — they missed their first 20 triples with Brown and Jayson Tatum combining to shoot 0-of-10 from 3-point range. Tatum finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Boston finished 2-for-26 from deep. Al Horford played 41 minutes, which was the first time he’s topped 40 minutes in a game since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018.

Guard Marcus Smart and forward Robert Williams were both held out for non-COVID illness reasons but both should play Monday. Smart is a very good defender but is struggling offensively. The 27-year-old has averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 assists, four rebounds and 2.6 steals over 37 minutes per night. Williams has gotten off to a strong start to the season in his first opportunity as a full-time starter and is averaging 10.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 33.4 minutes per game.

Game Trends

Bulls are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS win.
Celtics are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Monday games.
Celtics are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.