The Bulls Vs Celtics matchup arrives with one clear pressure point: Chicago’s perimeter shooting has been ice-cold to start the season, and Boston is exactly the kind of opponent that can make that problem look bigger. Through three games, the Bulls have made just 22.6% of their three-point attempts, a brutal number even if it comes from a small sample. That is not just a shooting slump. It is a warning sign about how hard Chicago has had to work for points.
The odd part is that the Bulls have still found ways to stay in games. On Saturday, they lost 124-120 to Washington, and Caleb Wilson was a major reason the offense had enough life to make that scoreline competitive. He scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while making one of his nine three-point attempts. That mix says a lot about Chicago’s early profile: there is production, but not much efficiency from outside.
Why the shooting number matters
Chicago’s three-point volume has also been heavy, with 41.3 attempts per game through three games. When a team shoots that often and still sits at 22.6%, the problem is not just missed shots. It is the quality of the looks, the consistency of the spacing and the pressure that builds when the ball keeps refusing to go down. The Bulls can score despite the cold shooting, but doing that night after night is a difficult way to live.
That is where Boston enters the picture. After their season-opening loss, the Celtics beat the Knicks 107-103, a result that should give them some confidence heading into Monday’s game. Boston did not need a runaway performance to restore some stability. It just needed to show that it could win a tight game and carry that edge into the next one.
What Boston can test
The Celtics do not need Chicago to collapse to expose the problem. They only need to force the Bulls into the kind of possession where the first option is taken away and the shot clock does the rest. If Chicago is already struggling to make threes, the Celtics can make every perimeter attempt feel a little more stressful by closing the floor, contesting early and making the Bulls score through tougher routes.
That is what makes this matchup interesting. On one side is a Boston team that has already shown it can recover from an opening setback. On the other is a Chicago team that has scored enough to stay competitive, but has also allowed 128 points per game through its first three contests. That is a difficult combination to sustain, especially against a Celtics team that can punish mistakes without needing a perfect night from outside.
The Bulls do not need to suddenly become a great three-point team in one game. But they do need a better answer than simply surviving on volume and effort. Monday’s game against Boston is a useful early test because it asks the same question their first three games already have: can Chicago score efficiently enough to hide the cold shooting, or will the numbers keep catching up with them?
