The Chicago Bulls will take on the visiting Boston Celtics in a crucial NBA Cup matchup Friday.
Boston, Chicago and Atlanta are all 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Group C standings. Cleveland is 1-1 and Washington is 0-3.
The Bulls will be the Group C champion if they beat the Celtics and the Hawks beat the Cavaliers on Friday night. Chicago owns the tiebreaker over Atlanta based on its head-to-head victory over the Hawks.
If Chicago and Cleveland both win Friday, the Bulls would also finish first in Group C if the Cavaliers lose to the Wizards on Tuesday. That scenario would leave Chicago as the lone 3-1 team in Group C.
If the Bulls and Cavs both finish 3-1, Cleveland will be the Group C champion based on its head-to-head victory over Chicago. The Bulls would need to win the point-differential tiebreaker against other 3-1 non-group champions to earn the Eastern Conference’s lone wild-card spot.
A victory over Chicago plus a Cleveland victory over Atlanta would give the Celtics the Group C championship. Boston owns the tiebreaker against Cleveland because the Celtics beat the Cavaliers 120-117 on Nov. 19.
