Anfernee Simons and Nikola Vucevic will each be playing against their former team when the Chicago Bulls visit the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

Simons was traded from Boston to Chicago last Tuesday in exchange for Vucevic. The teams each included a second-round draft pick in the deal.

Simons jumped right into Chicago’s lineup and has averaged 20.0 points and 5.3 assists while shooting 11 of 32 from 3-point range (34.4%) in three games with the Bulls, who have been playing without Josh Giddey and Tre Jones. Giddey aggravated a hamstring injury during a Jan. 28 loss to Indiana. Jones also has been dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out since Jan. 22.

“I think even before (the trade), it was always going to be a job interview with this being the last year of my contract,” Simons said. “I’ve just got to make the most out of these last couple of months here, start building chemistry with the guys and see where that goes.”

Chicago coach Billy Donovan said it’s likely both Giddey and Jones will miss Wednesday night’s game.

“I don’t anticipate Josh or Tre playing Wednesday against Boston, but both guys are ramping up,” Donovan said. “They’re playing three-on-three, and they’re running up the court. I think the medical guys just want them to be in a place where there’s at least enough of a buildup and all that tightness has kind of subsided.”

Giddey averages 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists this season — when he plays. The Bulls are 17-17 when he’s in the lineup and 7-13 when he’s not. Jones has averaged 12.4 points in his 38 games, 20 of which were starts.

Chicago enters Wednesday’s game on a five-game losing streak, which appears to be the goal after shipping out four of their top six scorers at the trade deadline.

The Celtics have tinkered with their rotation since acquiring Vucevic, who has averaged 11 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench in his two games with Boston. The Celtics overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat Miami 98-96 on Friday, then had their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 111-89 loss to New York on Sunday.

“We’re playing a little different,” said veteran guard Derrick White. “We got some new guys in new spots and so I wouldn’t say we’re as crisp as we were maybe a few weeks ago when we’ve had all offseason and the beginning of the year to figure those parts out, but it’s exciting we can continue to learn and grow. Just understand it’s going to take day-by-day to get guys comfortable, get guys in the right spots. We got a lot of guys that know how to play and so I think we’ll pick it up quickly.”

Baylor Scheierman has started four of Boston’s last six games. He had career highs for rebounds (13) and assists (five) to go along with 10 points against the Knicks.

“We’ve tinkered with (the starting lineup) all year,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said after the loss to New York. “I think we’re up to 15 or 17 different ones, so nothing’s changed. Everybody on our roster has a chance to impact winning, we have a chance to develop, do different things there.

“So, whether before or after deadline, nothing changes in our approach. How do we have flexibility? How do we know everyone on the roster has a chance to impact winning? We just keep developing identities.”

–Field Level Media

MILAN — Jordan Stolz is speed skating’s hottest property heading into Wednesday’s men’s 1,000 meters at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, but a pack of seasoned challengers led by three-time Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis are ready to crash the American’s party.

The 21-year-old Stolz arrived in Milan as the sport’s most talked-about skater and the leading contender for three individual events — the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m — while also eyeing the unpredictable mass start.

He begins his Milan Cortina campaign in the 1,000m, the event in which he already holds a world record.

Since making his Olympic debut as a 17-year-old in Beijing with modest finishes of 13th in the 500m and 14th in the 1,000m, Stolz has transformed into a world-beating sprinter, collecting six world championship titles.

But the 36-year-old Nuis, chasing a fourth gold medal after victories in the 1,000m and 1,500m at Pyeongchang 2018 and the 1,500m at Beijing 2022, is not ready to concede defeat.

“Jordan is the man to beat but behind him there are so many guys with serious chances — including myself,” Nuis said on Tuesday. “I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a thrilling battle, and I’m totally up for that.”

For Nuis, Milan Cortina is his Olympic swansong.

“My parents will be there, and finally my son as well, which is truly remarkable,” said the Dutchman, who holds world and Olympic records in the 1,500m. “This will be my final Olympics, so I intend to thoroughly enjoy it.”

The Dutch squad enters buoyed by Jutta Leerdam’s storming 1,000m gold in the women’s event on Monday, leading a Dutch one-two with Femke Kok.

Among their medal hopes is 23-year-old Joep Wennemars, the 2025 world champion in the 1,000m and son of former world sprint champion Erben Wennemars, who knows what is required at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.

“I think it’s fair to say a record will be needed and everyone will be skating extremely hard,” the younger Wennemars said.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

The Miami Heat will be short-handed again when they face the host New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday in the final game before the All-Star break for both teams.

Miami used its 19th different starting lineup of the season and had just 11 available players in Monday’s 115-111 home loss to the Utah Jazz.

The Heat were missing guards Norman Powell (back tightness), Pelle Larsson (right forearm strain) and Tyler Herro (ribs). Powell and Larsson have been ruled out for Wednesday’s contest, while Herro will miss his 15th straight game.

Miami is also monitoring the status of forward Andrew Wiggins, who is listed as questionable with toe inflammation.

With a limited bench against Utah, the Heat were outscored 54-30 in the paint and lost for the third time in their last four games.

Wiggins led Miami with 26 points, while Bam Adebayo added 23 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis made six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points off the bench.

Jakucionis is shooting 46.8% from 3-point range this season for Miami, which allowed Utah to win for just the fifth time in its last 23 games.

“Gotta figure out how to consistently win games,” Adebayo said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s a back-to-back. Four games in five nights, whatever it is, we gotta find a way to win, even against teams that are, I guess you could say, trying to lose.

“Gotta look in the mirror. That’s the biggest thing, that we don’t look in the mirror enough to see what we can do better, day in, day out. We kind of go with the flow, then when we get behind, it’s kind of when we want to, like, tap in. It’s like we’ve got to have that urgency from the jump and a lot of times, we don’t have that.”

Miami has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with New Orleans, including a 125-106 home victory on Jan. 4.

The Pelicans are looking to build on an impressive 120-94 home win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday.

Trey Murphy III scored 21 points to lead New Orleans. Jeremiah Fears added 20 and Zion Williamson finished with 18 points and six assists.

The Pelicans recorded their largest margin of victory this season while scoring 34 fastbreak points.

“If we’re getting stops on defense and we’re disruptive on the defensive end, that’s going to lead to good transition for us,” New Orleans interim head coach James Borrego said. “This is really good evidence that if you play good defense, it leads to good offense.”

Murphy is shooting 57.5% (23 of 40) from 3-point range over the last three games for the Pelicans, who have won five of their last nine games.

“Our intensity has picked up,” Fears said. “We’ve started playing more as a team, moving the ball. Our chemistry has gotten better along the way.”

The Pelicans are 27th in the league in 3-pointers made per game (11.2), but Murphy’s recent surge is forcing opponents to defend the perimeter.

New Orleans shot 41% (16 of 39) from beyond the arc in the win over Sacramento, and Murphy’s 23 made 3-pointers over a three-game stretch is a franchise record.

–Field Level Media