Slumping Bulls visit Celtics

BOSTON -- The last time the Boston Celtics played in Chicago, on Feb. 16, Jimmy Butler was still a member of the Bulls amid rumors he might be traded away at the approaching deadline.

Perhaps to the Celtics.

Butler scored 29 points in that game, and even volunteered to guard Boston's Isaiah Thomas down the stretch. Butler got the benefit of a generous foul call with two-tenths of a second left on the clock, made the free throws and the Bulls had the win.

The trade deadline came and went and Butler is still with the Bulls as they invade TD Garden for a nationally televised game on Sunday.

Chicago is just 3-5 since that win over Boston and enter Sunday's matchup with the team's first four-game losing streak of the season -- and fighting for its playoff lives.

The Bulls started play Saturday in ninth place in the Eastern Conference but were just two games out of sixth.

"Obviously when you have a game like this, when you have a skid going on like we do, you have to look at everything," coach Fred Hoiberg said after Thursday night's 21-point home loss to the Houston Rockets. "We'll get back to the practice court tomorrow, put a plan together and see how it affects the rotation going into the Boston game Sunday."

The Celtics are coming off a 2-3 road trip that took them to Los Angeles to Phoenix and back to Los Angeles before finishing up at Golden State and Denver. They handed a game away in Phoenix, beat Golden State and then had nothing left in the tank at Denver on Friday night. Through Friday, Boston was tied with the Washington Wizards for second place in the East.

"It's (consistency) something that we're struggling with right now," Al Horford said after Friday's loss. "If you look at our team, it's been like this for most of the year."

Added Thomas: "All year we haven't been that consistent for the most part. If we can turn that switch and be consistent, we could be a really good team."

Asked how they might turn the consistency problem around, Thomas said, "Just fix it. It's enough talk. "We only have like 16 more games left. It's way past talking time. We've got to just do it."

This will be the fourth and final game between the Bulls and Celtics, who could, of course, match up in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls won both games in Chicago and the Celtics prevailed at TD Garden on Nov. 2.

"It's a part of where we are at, it's no secret," Bulls guard Dwyane Wade said of his team's spot in the standings. "We are a team preparing for the future and also trying to make the playoffs. So you are going to take some lumps some nights and some nights you are going to win some games and look good.

"We'll figure out a way to try to bounce back against tough Boston and Charlotte back-to-back and see what happens."