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Chicago Bulls hope Wade has another strong playoff run in store

Dwyane Wade logged more playoff games last season (14) than most of the Boston Celtics have played in their careers.

Tack on all 14 of his NBA seasons and Wade's playoff count soars to 166, with three championships and five trips to the Finals.

So everyone, even Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, is wondering what Wade might be able to produce in the Bulls-Celtics first-round series, which tips off Sunday in Boston.

"The biggest thing with Dwyane is this is where he has played his best basketball - in the postseason," Hoiberg said Saturday at the Advocate Center. "We watched all his games last year in the postseason, and he was unbelievable as far as the versatility in his game and really extending his range.

"It's the moment that he lives for. When you've got a guy who is going to want the pressure on his shoulders, it's a great luxury to have."

Wade's Miami squad won a seven-game series against Charlotte, then lost to Toronto in seven games in the second round. Wade averaged 23.9 points in the Raptors series. Even more surprising, he shot 52 percent from 3-point range in last year's playoffs, compared to 15.9 percent in the regular season.

One concern is whether Wade, 35, can keep up defensively. Just last week, the Brooklyn Nets tried to pick on Wade late in the game when they upset the Bulls. The Celtics will use plenty of three-guard lineups with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley.

"You can't completely change the way you do things," Hoiberg said. "But you have to lean on your guys who've been through this experience. That was the biggest thing with Dwyane getting back (from an elbow injury), he's won a lot of games for us in the fourth quarters when the game slows down.

"It's a great luxury to have."

Bradley praises Rondo:

Celtics guard Avery Bradley talked to Boston reporters this week about his respect for the Bulls' Rajon Rondo, who played for the Celtics when Bradley started his career.

"Rondo's like my brother," said Bradley, according to the Boston Herald. "On the court, off the court, we're brothers. It's weird playing against him, going up against him. I know he's a true competitor and he's going to bring his best game in the playoffs. So it's going to be fun playing against him. Weird, but fun.

"He's helped me out in a lot of different ways. And I appreciate him. All his time here I feel like he was one of the best teammates that I've had. And he was a true competitor, one of the hardest-playing teammates I played with. His desire to win, I don't know many people (like that).

"He's so competitive. It doesn't matter what we're playing. If we're playing tic-tac-toe he wants to win every single game. So I respect that about him."

Celtics want respect:

This much is fact: The 12-game spread in the standings between the No. 1 Celtics and No. 8 Bulls is the smallest in the Eastern Conference since 2003, when top-seeded Detroit was 8 games better than Orlando.

But that didn't stop Celtics star Isaiah Thomas from complaining about a perceived lack of respect.

"Nobody gives us our due. We're the No. 1 seed, and then they say we're one of the worst No. 1 seeds," Thomas said, according to espn.com.

"Everybody on this team has been underdogs," added Boston guard Marcus Smart. "That's why we've been doing so well, because we always play with a chip on our shoulder. We expect that. We're not really worried about it."

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