The Boston Celtics get back to action after a long layoff for the Thanksgiving holiday on the road, making the trip to the state of Illinois's United Center arena to face the Chicago Bulls on their own home court for an NBA Cup tilt.

The Chicago Bulls are hosting the red-hot Boston Celtics today in an NBA Cup game, and their first matchup of the regular season series. The Bulls are coming in

Chicago was unable to handle the Celtics once they ramped up the pressure down the stretch. Joe Mazzulla's team adjusted their defensive pick-up points and began to execute at a higher level than we'd seen throughout the earlier quarters.

So, what happens now for Boston? Every team that doesn't reach the NBA Cup knockout rounds gets two games added to its regular-season schedule -- one home and one away. Here are those two games for the Celtics (both of which will air on NBC Sports Boston):

The Celtics almost had a path to the knockout round after the Knicks briefly attained a 37-point lead against the Magic on Tuesday. The post Celtics officially eliminated from NBA Cup after improbable scenario nearly plays out appeared first on Boston.