The Chicago Bulls were able to pull off the upset in Boston, as they defeated the Boston Celtics 107 to 105 in overtime.

The story of the day was Derrick Rose, who hit big shot after big shot to keep the Bulls in it all game long.

As usual, Ben Gordon stepped up in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulls alive. In a 3 minute, 15 second span, Ben Gordon scored 10 points to match every Celtic’s shot, giving the Bulls a 93 to 90 lead on his final shot, with 1:18 left in the ball game.

Then it was Derrick Rose’s turn, scoring the Bulls next 4 points, including 2 clutch free throws, giving the Bulls a 97 to 96 lead.

But on the very next play, Joakim Noah fouled Paul Pierce on a jumpshot, sending Pierce to the line. Pierce tied the game at 97, but missed the second free throw, bringing the game into overtime.

In overtime, it was all Tyrus Thomas, hitting three jumpshots, to score 6 of the Bulls’ 8 overtime points. Thomas made a shot from just within the three point line in the left corner to give the Bulls a 105 to 103 lead.

Paul Pierce then lost the ball out of bounds, but the referees decided to give the Celtics another chance, even though the ball was clearly out on Pierce. The Celtics had ~3 seconds to get off a shot. They got it to Ray Allen, who missed a jumpshot off the back of the iron. Kirk Hinrich grabbed the rebound, passed it to Gordon and time expired. Bulls win.

The story of the game was Derrick Rose, who finished with an impressive 36 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds. Rose did have 5 turnovers in the game, but those don’t matter at all when you’re making enough plays to accumulate 36 points and 11 assists. He was stroking his jumpshot tonight, and driving on the Celtics at will. He also got to the foul line today, getting 12 free throw attempts. Hopefully today marked the end of his lack of respect from the referees.

Rose tied Kareem Abdul-Jabaar’s record for most points by a rookie in their playoff debut, with 36 points.

Ben Gordon, his backcourt partner, also had a good game, scoring 20 points and passing for 5 assists. Gordon was getting tons of good looks, his shot just wasn’t falling as often as it usually does. If the Celtics don’t stop Gordon from getting these kinds of looks in the remainder of the series, he is going to make them pay with big games.

I also thought that Gordon kind of got held back from the reffing tonight. He had a few drives to the basket where he was fouled, no call. He had a jumpshot just above the free throw line where Ray Allen cut out his legs, no foul call. He had a three point shot, in which Ray Allen grabbed his jersey, throwing off the shot, of course, no foul call. Gordon would probably have went 8-9 on those free throws, and all of a sudden he has a 28 point game, no overtime, and the Bulls win much more easily. The way he played the game was much more impressive than the box score. You are going to miss some shots when you’re fouled, but the refs don’t call it. That’s just the way it is.

The Bulls got great production from both of their young big men too today. Joakim Noah finished with 11 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Tyrus Thomas finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

One of my keys to the series was that the Bulls would need to secure rebounds and play defense, and that is exactly what the young Bulls’ big men did tonight. I thought they did a great job of playing tough interior defense, and they won the rebounding battle 53 to 45. If these two keep it up, the Bulls will be hard to beat, especially at home.

Brad Miller also contributed well, grabbing 12 rebounds and providing solid defense from time to time.

For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo was tremendous. He had just a great game in his own right, but no one is going to remember Rondo’s great 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists effort, because Rose was simply much better. Regardless, the Bulls are going to have to play better team help defense on Rondo going forwardi n the series, as he is a guy who can just kill you if you don’t get some shot blockers altering his shots.

Paul Pierce had a bit of a rough outing, scoring 23 points, but on 8-21 shooting, but he stepped up late in the game, hitting some big shots…besides, obviously, the free throw that could have won the game.

I thought Kirk Hinrich played a pretty solid defensive game today too.

The Celtics got some good production out of their front court. Kendrick Perkins had 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Good game as usual for Perkins against the Bulls. Leon Powe dropped 8 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, and Glen Davis had 18 points, but only 3 rebounds.

John Salmons finished with 12 points on 6-16 shooting. I don’t think Salmon’s groin injury is really affecting too much of Salmon’s movements on the court anymore, as he had good mobility on defense. Rather, I think that it could be one of those groin injuries that is preventing him to go down far enough on his shot to get his proper motion.

With the win, the Bulls take a 1-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the First Round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

Closing Comments

What a game. This will be being played on ESPN Clasicc for years to come. it was such a pleasure to watch Derrick Rose take over the game, and then to have his teammates, Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas, step up in the clutch as well.

The Bulls definitely helped their cause today, winning game one of the series The team that wins game one of a series wins the series ~78.8% of the time. The Bulls are good at defying the odds (Example: Derrick Rose), but lets hope that they don’t quite do that this time around.

To sum up the game tonight. Derrick Rose, you are a star, Ben Gordon, you are Mr. Fourth Quarter, Tyrus Thomas, you’re jumpshot is consistent enough, and the Chicago Bulls as a whole, you did a good job playing tough defense tonight and pulling out a victory.

Go Bulls!

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Tags: 2009 Playoffs, Ben Gordon, Boston Celtics, Brad Miller, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, First Round, Joakim Noah, John Salmons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kirk Hinrich, missed free throw, Paul Pierce, playoffs, Rajon Rondo, Tyrus Thomas

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