The Chicago Bulls’ great second half of the season ended Saturday night as they were ousted from the playoffs in Game 7 of their First Round series with the Boston Celtics.

The Bulls looked good early, jumping to a 18-11 lead with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. Gordon came out of the gate looking focused and on fire, scoring 10 points in the first 5 minutes of play. The Bulls would lead 27-23 at the end of one.

The Bulls would open the second quarter opening up a 32-32 lead behind two jumpshots by Ben Gordon. But those were Gordon’s last points of the half, and Boston would jump to a 52-38 lead.

The Bulls would whittle down the Celtic’s lead to 7, as Ben Gordon capped off the third quarter with a three point shot to make it a 78-71 games, but the Celtics never let the Bulls go on a commanding run to completely get back in the ball game.

Kirk Hinrich scored the Bulls first 6 points of the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to four, 81-77, but that was as close as it was going to get. Eddie House promprlty made a three pointer to put the Celtics back up by 7. He was called for a taunting technical, as he felt obligated to say something to the Bulls’ bench. The Celtics never let the Bulls get within 5 from there on out and pulled through with the victory.

Ben Gordon was great given that he had a hamstring injury. The way he went out and scored 17 points early on, I thought he might be getting ready to drop 50 on the Celtics to match Ray Allen, but then Gordon went cold. He still finished with a phenomenal 33 points. He shot only 7-23, but made up for it by going 15-15 from the free throw line. Gordon did a great job getting to the line, and overall, a great game given the hamstring injury.

His UConn counterpart, Ray Allen, also had a good game, scoring 23 points. Like Gordon, Allen did a good job getting to the line, drawing 9 free throw attempts.

Joakim Noah was very good again, finishing with 7 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He would foul out of the game. This was Noah’s fourth 15 rebound game of the series. His hard foul on Rondo was great, someone had to send a message to Rondo, and Noah stepped up and did it.

Kirk Hinrich did a good job scoring 16 points off the bench, scoring all but 2 of them in the fourth quarter. He really gave all he could to keep the Bulls from getting eliminated, but it wasn’t enough.

Derrick Rose finished with 18 points and only 3 assists. He started the game off good, and was part of that initial charge, but quickly faded. Next year, he will have to be more aggressive, and have prolonged excellence throughout the game, instead of just in spurts. We have already seen Gordon make the leap from a spurt player to a full game impact player, so hopefully Rose wil lbe able to do the same.

Eddie House was big off the bench, scoring 16 points, going 4-4 from three. In past games, the Celtics weren’t getting production from their bench. Tonight they did, and that was the difference.

The Bulls really god beat up by the Celtics’ big men tonight. Kendrick Perkins had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Glen Davis had 15 points, and even Brian Scalabrine got in the action scoring 8 points.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points for the Celtics. John Salmons had 12 points on 3-12 shooting.

With the victory, the Celtics win the first round series 4-3, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals where they will take on the Orlando Magic.

Closing Comments

Before the series, I predicted Celtics win the series in 7 games, because we would lose the front court battle, giving up too many second chance points. That is exactly how the Bulls ended up losing this series in 7 games, by getting beat by the Celtics’ depleted front court. Make no mistake about this, Joakim Noah was the best big man in the series. It’s not debatable. But Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis, throughout the entire series, outplayed Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas by a wide margin. Tyrus Thomas in particular was a big problem for us in this series, as he got killed on the glass.

It was a pretty good season for the Bulls. They played in one of the most intense playoff series of all time, featuring 7 overtime periods. Hopefully they can take the intensity from this series, while keeping largely the same team, and applying that intensity to the regular season next year, for a much better regular season and an easier playoff matchup.

I usually end by saying “Go Bulls!”, but I will end this season by saying: Re-sign Gordon!

Four instant classics and four overtimes weren’t quite enough for the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. On Thursday night, the two teams got tangled in what many are saying is the greatest playoff game ever, as the two teams made their fifth instant classic of the series, and tacked on three more overtimes in the triple overtime thriller.

With 10:16 left in the game, Tyrus Thomas slammed in a dunk to give the Bulls an 88 to 76 lead. Surely this time they would hold onto the league? Not quite….following a Tyrus Thomas jumpshot, which gave the Bulls a 91 to 81 lead, the Celtics went on an 18 to 0 run to take a 99 to 91 lead with 3:38 left in the game. The Bulls had just let their season slip away.

But the Celtics would only make one more shot in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls would not let their season end this way, giving up another double digit lead in the fourth quarter. They fought back. Brad Miller even made another three to make it a 101 to 99 game. Then Miller made a layup, somewhat reminiscent of the one at the end of game 5, only this time it went in, to tie the game at 101 a piece.

Paul Pierce missed the game winning attempt for the Celtics, and then the Bulls got their chance to tie it up. The Bulls put it in Ben Gordon’s hands, and he just put up a horrible shot. It’s not so much the actual look, but more so the shot. He just put up a really flat shot, that was an airball. He needs to get arch on that shot. That type of shot won’t go in when it’s that flat.

The Bulls took a 107 to 103 lead with 2:13 left in the overtime period. Gordon would foul a few moments later, fouling Pierce. The Bulls would be going on without their usual clutch savior. And of course, the Celtics come back, and take a 109 to 107 lead. John Salmons gets the score to tie it up, and once again, Paul Pierce missed the potential game winner. Onto double overtime for the second game in this series.

Glen Davis came out in the second overtime made his third straight shot to give the Celtics a 113 to 111 lead. John Salmons then hit a big three to give the Bulls a 114 to 113 lead, and followed it up with a layup for the 116 to 113 lead. Kendrick Perkins fouled out in between the Salmons scores. But Ray Allen answered with a crazy fall away shot over Joakim Noah to make it a 116 to 115 game with 20 seconds left. The Celtics were forced to foul, and Brad Miller made both free throws. But Ray Allen would respond by making a three from the left wing to tie the game at 118 a piece. Brad Miller turned it over on a pass as time expired…onto a third overtime.

Glen Davis and Derrick Rose scored the early points in the third overtime. Ray Allen hit a jumper to tie it at 123. The score would remain here for over a minute. But Joakim Noah stole the ball from Paul Pierce, and beat Pierce down court for a powerful slam, that Noah drew the and one foul on. Pierce fouled out of the game here, and Noah hit the free throw to give the Bulls a 126 to 123 lead.

Eddie House made a jumpshot to make it a 1 point game, but Brad Miller made two free throws after the intentional foul to give the Bulls a 128 to 125 lead. Rondo would miss a layup but get the tip in to make it a 128 to 127 game.

It looked like the Bulls were about to choke this away. Kirk Hinrich missed a layup, which is unacceptable in the clutch. Upon further review, it looks like Rondo committed goaltending here, touching the rim. He should have made it regardless of the small contact Rondo made with the win, but a goaltend is a goaltend, and it should have been called.

Rajon Rondo tried to be the hero, and took a fallaway jumper, which Derrick Rose blocked. Kirk Hinrich knocked the ball to Rose in a skirmish for the ball. Rose here missed two free throws, Rajon Rondo missed a half court shot, and the Bulls won 128 to 127.

Now time to break down the players.

I will start with Ray Allen tonight. He was phenomenal, scoring 51 points. Absolutely unstoppable. What makes Allen’s performance even more impressive is that he has made all the big shots.

Kirk Hinrich had a pretty nice game with 11 points and 7 assists. In the first quarter, Rondo grabbed Hinrich by his arm and threw him into the scorer’s table. Kirk Hinrich went right back at Rondo and shoved him. Rondo was lucky that the ref jumped in right away, as it looked like Kirk Hinrich was about to beat him up.

I thought the way Kirk Hinrich went at Rondo, he was just trying to get a fight going, and trying to take Rondo out of the series as the result of a fight. But upon further review of this, Rajon Rondo threw an elbow at Kirk Hinrich, which missed, and that is why Hinrich went after Rondo in the way he did. If the NBA has any type of consistency, Rajon Rondo will be sitting out Game 7 with a suspension, just as Dwight Howard sat out Game 6 in the Magic vs. 76ers.

Rondo was called for a flagrant one. It was originally called a flagrant two and ejection on the court.

If Rajon Rondo is sitting out game 7, he will have no one to blame but himself.

Brad Miller finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was big, hitting the clutch three, the layup, sinking his free throws. I was glad that Miller was able to redeem himself after Game 5. It wouldn’t have been fair for Miller to have to take blame for losing the series. Rondo should have been called for a flagrant there, and Miller should have been subbed out, as he was in no condition to be playing basketball, and Gordon would have made his free throws, and the Bulls may have won game 5. But the refs made the wrong call, putting Miller in this bad situation. Miller redeemed himself in Game 6, and I hope no one blames him for losing us this series.

Derrick Rose finished with 28 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds. He also had 5 turnovers, which looks bad on the surface, but really isn’t that bad when you consider he played nearly 60 minutes. Rose was great in the first half, but horrible from there on out, barely being able to hit a shot. He did come up with the big block in the third overtime, but missed the two free throws. Rose’s efficiency wasn’t all that great tonight. A similar scoring night efficiency wise to Gordon’s 26 in Game 5. I’d like to see an efficient game from Rose scoring the ball to close out the series.

Joakim Noah with 9 points and 15 rebounds, and the big steal and dunk. I won’t say this is by itself the most important play of the season. Gordon’s game winner against Detroit to guarantee avoiding Cleveland, Gordon’s game tying three are very important. This is in a way the biggest play of the season, it’s just tied with a few others. Just a great play for Noah, we are going to be talking about this play for years to come. If it hasn’t become clear to Bulls fans yet, Joakim Noah is a winner. He makes big plays, and does the little things that are important in winning. No wonder Florida won two straight national championships.

John Salmons stepped up with the big scoring night, with 35 points on 13-22 shooting. We needed a big game from Salmons, especially with Gordon in foul trouble, and Salmons delivered.

Ben Gordon finished with 12 points on 4-14 shooting and 4 assists. Gordon again didn’t have an efficient scoring game. He seemed to drive to the hoop more often than normal. I thought he had some really nice passes. I think this was an example of the refs taking a player out of the game. Gordon was called for touch foul after touch foul. I think the refs had a vendetta set out from the beginning to foul out Ben Gordon after Ray Allen fouled out in Game 5. Gordon drew a technical after he was in disgust over one of the fouls called on him.

Paul Pierce had 22 points. I think the refs assisted him to his 22 points. He was the recipient of a lot of these ticky tack fouls.

Kendrick Perkins finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Another good game from Perkins. I like Perkins game a lot. He gives what I like out of a center, which is a tough guy, who can’t be moved in the paint, who takes up a lot space in the paint. Celtics have a keeper at center here.

Rajon Rondo finished with 8 points, 19 assists, and 9 rebounds. Another near triple double. I don’t think this game was as good as the others. I think a lot of the assists were the result of playing 57 minutes, and also Ray Allen just being on fire. Nothing special really that Rondo did.

Glen Davis had 23 points on 10-18 shooting. He was hitting some big shots for the Celtics, but fouled out.

With the win, the Bulls even the series at 3-3. Game 7 will be Saturday in Boston at 7 PM.

Closing Comments

Great win for the Bulls. No one is going to be saying the Bulls don’t have playoff experience anymore. What more could you experience in a playoff series. Game tying shots? Check. Game winning shots? Check. Overtime? Check. Double overtime? Check. Triple overtime? Check. A guy dropping 50+ points on you? Check. The Bulls have experienced just about everything you can in a series.

I think the Ben Gordon fouling out could end up being a blessing in disguise, as the Celtics’ big three and Glen Davis all played over 50 minutes, while Ben Gordon should be relatively fresh, only playing 31 minutes. Tyrus Thomas should also be pretty fresh, as he hasn’t really logged big minutes at all this series. Brad Miller, also only played 34 minutes, and Kirk Hinrich played 42 minutes, which isn’t all that much given Kirk’s limited burn. Derrick Rose and John Salmons were the only two guys that logged major minutes, both playing nearly 60 minutes in the game. The Bulls should be much fresher than the Celtics going into Game 7.

Hopefully Game 7 doesn’t end up being a let down, like Game 7 of the Hawks vs. Celtics series last year. But this one is a bit different, as we were in it down to the final possession in all three games in Boston, winning one of them. Atlanta never really competed in Boston.

I think it is clear that this is probably the greatest playoff series ever. So many overtimes, so many big shots, and some chippy play. I don’t remember anything like this in my 11 years of watching basketball as a hardcore, and don’t remember seeing anything like this on ESPN Classic or Sports Century. The drama is just too great.

I would love for the Bulls to just go in and blowout the Celtics in Game 7, but it doesn’t seem fitting for it to end that way. It seems like another overtime thriller would be more fitting, with Gordon hitting another game winner, or Derrick Rose hitting his first game winner of his career.

I am really excited for Game 7 and I think the Bulls will come out and compete hard.

Go Bulls!

The Chicago Bulls let one get away in Boston tonight, as they lost to the Boston Celtics 106 to 104.

Rewind to 9:28 left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls are leading by 11, 77 to 66. Now fast forward to 5:45 in the fourth quarter, Ray Allen hits a three to make it an 83 to 80 game in favor of the Bulls. A few moments later, Ray Allen fouls out of the game with his sixth foul on a double foul with Brad Miller.

Yes, the Bulls gave up the lead, but they will roll to victory with Allen out now? Not quite. This is when Paul Pierce stepped up.

With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Paul Pierce hit a layup, as Boston finally tied the game at 91 a piece.

After a Rose turnover, and a missed shot by Rondo and rebound by the Bulls, they had the ball back with 27.2 seconds left in the game. The Bulls got the ball to Gordon, who was guarded by Stephon Marbury, who was playing tight defense. But Marbury let Gordon find a wide open look after picking up his dribble, and Gordon sank the potential game winner with 16 seconds left.

A few seconds later, Paul Pierce hit a turn around jumpshot from the free throw line to tie the game at 93.

Then Ben Gordon had his last shot at it. He drove left, took a step back, and fired up the fallaway jumpshot, off left iron, for the third time in the series, the game went into overtime.

This is the first series in NBA history to have three games go into overtime.

How did the Bulls give up that 11 point lead? Derrick Rose and John Salmons wilted under pressure. After the Bulls had an 11 point lead, Derrick Rose committed 3 turnovers. John Salmons missed 3 of his 4 shots, getting two of them blocked by Kendrick Perkins.

In overtime, Gordon really stepped up. He drew a foul and made two free throws, and then hit a tough one shot flicker from the free throw line. Still, with 36.5 seconds left, the Celtics had a 104 to 101 lead behind the clutch shooting of Paul Pierce.

But Ben Gordon was fouled on a three by Tony Allen, and Ben Gordon responded by hitting all three of the free throws to knot the game at 104 a piece.

Simple game plan, get the stop, call a timeout, and go for the win. But the stop part didn’t happen, as Paul Pierce hit another shot from just above the free throw line to give the Celtics a 106 to 104 lead. The shot would end up being the game winner.

The Bulls actually had a great player drew up by Vinny Del Negro. They found Brad Miller for a wide open layup attempt, as the Celtics were overly concerned with Ben Gordon getting the ball. But Brad Miller would serve up a three course meal of sucktitude.

First, Miller missed the layup, airballing it. He was fouled on the play by Rondo, so he still had a shot to tie it up. But he would miss the first free throw. So now he had to purposely miss the free throw, but he bricked it off the glass, so the Bulls didn’t even get a chance. Bulls would have to foul, Pierce missed a pair at the line, Celtics grabbed the rebound and won.

Now on this play, Rajon Rondo just smacked Brad Miller in the face. It should have been two shots and the ball for the Bulls, which would have been huge. Rondo wasn’t anywhere close to the ball, so this could not be considered a basketball play. If Miller had hit the two free throws, it would have been tied up, with the Bulls having the ball back to try to win it, or go into a second overtime. Even if Miller missed 1 or both of the free throws, the Bulls would have had another posession to try to tie or win the game. The Bulls should have had at least one more posession following the flagrant foul, but they didn’t.

Yes, the referees blew the call, it was definitely a flagrant, but the Bulls also blew this one by themselves. Derrick Rose and John Salmons shouldn’t have wilted down the stretch in the fourth, and Brad Miller should have sank his two free throws.

So now, breaking down the players.

Ben Gordon was great. It wasn’t his best game ever, but he still put up 26 points and 6 assists with a torn hamstring. He didn’t have the best efficiency tonight, but he stepped up and made the big shots in the clutch. Gordon scored 7 points in the overtime period, and scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. Offensively, I thought he was generating some good looks, he was just missing his shots. Defensively, I thought he looked hindered early, but in the second half, he seemed to be moving around pretty well.

Derrick Rose was dreadful. 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, but 6 turnovers. Horrible. This guy needs to control the ball. His turnovers are really deflating the team, and they’re coming at crucial moments.

Kirk Hinrich was great in the first half, really stepping up. His defense was good all game. He finished with 19 points in the game. But where’d your offense go in the second half? We needed you Kirk.

John Salmons was so so again, finishing with 17 points on 5-15 shooting. Something really bugging me about Salmons is that he doesn’t shoot when he catches it. He will hold the ball, allowing the defense to get back on him, so every shot he takes is contested for the most part. So basically every shot Salmons take is some Larry Hughes style contested jumper. This isn’t a good thing. Salmons needs to start playing much smarter, and just take the shot right away.

Joakim Noah was great again. He finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds. He fought hard in the paint, and was just great. Tyrus Thomas finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds, but he wasn’t good. There were multiple plays where he didn’t even contest shots, and just let the Celtics score uncontested.

Brad Miller was horrible, and choked in the clutch. Although a corner three he hit off of a Gordon assist in the fourth quarter was a pretty big shot.

Rajon Rondo was terrific again. 28 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds. This game was a bit different. He wasn’t just burning Rose, who is one of the worst defenders in the league. Rather, the Bulls were meeting him with double teams, and he still destroyed the Bulls.

Paul Pierce, finished with 26 points. He looked really bad early in the game, but stepped up in the clutch, hitting the game tying shot to bring the game into overtime, and then hitting the game winner in overtime.

Glen Davis completely dominated Tyrus Thomas in particularly en route to 21 points.

Kendrick Perkins was a monster tonight. He had the Tim Duncan in the Finals a few years ago type statline, with 16 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocks. He finished the game with 0 fouls, which is ridiculous, as the guy pushes our guys so much, and comes down on the guards, that he should have easily had enough fouls to foul out. But if the refs are not calling it, why stop doing it? Smart play by Perkins to continue to push around the Bulls stringbean big men with the refs not calling fouls.

Ray Allen struggled today, only scoring 10 points. I thought Gordon did a pretty good job staying with Allen once he got through the initial soreness of his injury, and Vinny had some good schemes, where he would cover Ray Allen with a big with help defense from time to time. But Allen, like Gordon, helps his team so much just by being on the floor, as the entire other team is worried about letting him get open.

The Celtics bench is pure garbage, nothing more to say on them.

With the loss, the Bulls fall down 3-2 to the Celtics in this first round series. Game 6 will be in Chicago, at 6 PM on Thursday.

Closing Comments

This was the fourth instant classic game of the series. I really hope the Bulls can just come out and blow out the Celtics in game 6, as I’m not sure how many more close games I can take. The Bulls at points seemed to be on the verge of breaking open the game, but they never did.

Celtics deserve a lot of credit. They hit the big shots, and played tough all game long, and had just as much to do with their win as the Bulls’ mistakes.

Ben Gordon is a warrior. He is now averaging 25 points, and he is hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. It will be absolutely ridiculous if the Bulls let him go. He has earned his money with his great season followed by a great playoff series, with a gutsy game 5 performance on an injured leg. Jerry Reinsdorf better pay Ben Gordon what he is worth to keep him with the Bulls, because he is too valuable to let go.

Good effort tonight by the Bulls, just too many mistakes. I think the Bulls can take these next two, but he Celtics are right there, and could easily end this on Thursday. Come out on Thursday, defend your homecourt, and then just put it all on the line in Game 7.

Go Bulls!

According to Bulls.com, Ben Gordon may not play in tonight’s game 5, because of a tear he suffered in his hamstring during the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday.

Suddenly, the Bulls have an intriguing decision: Sit out Ben Gordon for Tuesday’s playoff Game 5 in Boston between the Bulls and Celtics knowing you are an underdog, anyway, and hope Gordon is more ready to play on his damaged left hamstring for Game 6 Thursday back in Chicago, or let him play at possibly less than 100 percent.

Ben Gordon Gordon finished with a game-high 42 points on 14 of 24 shooting from the field and 6 of 11 from behind the arc in Game 2.

“I don’t know yet (if I’ll play),” Gordon said Tuesday after morning shootaround at Emerson College. “I’m just going to wait to see how it feels and go from there. It’s my call. They said to do what I think is best, go off how it feels. Hopefully I can play tonight. If not, we have another game, Game 6 at home. I’m just going to try to make the best decision possible. It still hurts pretty bad. I’m just hoping for a miracle.”

It’s a stunning development for the Bulls in this series tied 2-2, especially because Gordon has been such a constant for the Bulls in his career. And especially now in this series, where Gordon has been a star as the series’ leading scorer. He had 42 points in the Game 2 Bulls loss and the big shot in the Game 4 Bulls win to send the game into double overtime. Gordon has been something of the team’s ironman, not missing a game this season and in three of his five seasons. He’s missed just 12 games in his Bulls career.

But now it appears questionable whether Gordon can play in Game 5 because of the hamstring strain—he said doctors told him it was a mild tear—he sustained early in Game 4.

I think Ben will ultimately play tonight, because he is such a warrior. But this is a legitimate injury, and if Ben can’t play because of it, he can’t play. The injury was noticeably hindering him in Game 4. He couldn’t move around very well on defense, and there were some plays on offense where he tried to lift off on his bad leg, and ended up getting very little elevation.

If Gordon is out tonight, the Bulls will have to hope for Derrick Rose to put on his best Dwyane Wade impression.

I think Vinny Del Negro should use a little bit of out of the box thinking, and start Tim Thomas, while sliding John Salmons to the shooting guardp osition. Yes, Thomas hasn’t done much as a Bull, but he has stepped up in playoffs past, and when offense goes out, offense needs to go in. If Tim Thomas can go off for 20 or so points, the Bulls could steal this one.

Yes, playing Tim Thomas heavy minutes might sound crazy, but it is going to take some type of crazy to beat the Celtics if Gordon isn’t playing.

The Chicago Bulls share their thoughts on their huge double overtime victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon. MOUTHPIECESPORTS personality Jilian Jesk talked to Vinny Del Negro, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Brad Miller, Joakim Noah and John Salmons about the the big win that tied up the series at 2-2.

The Bulls and Celtics participated in their third instant classic game of the series.

This was a game full of lead changed. A Ben Gordon jumpshot with about three minutes left in the third quarter gave the Bulls a 7 point lead, their largest of the game. A few minutes later, at the end of the third, Boston was up by 5.

With the game tied at 93 with 31 seconds left in the game, Ben Gordon drove to his right, putting in a shot over two Celtic defenders to give the Bulls a 95 to 93 lead.

Glen Davis then missed an easy lay-in, and Tyrus Thomas split a pair at the line. Ray Allen then answered with a three to knot the game at 96.

This was a mind numbing defensive sequence by John Salmons. He switched onto Rajon Rondo, leaving Ray Allen wide open. I would rather take my chances with Rajon Rondo wide open for three than Ray Allen.

The Bulls then put the ball in Derrick Rose’s hands, who missed a floater off back iron to bring the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Celtics pulled away, taking a 105-100 lead as Ray Allen and Paul Pierce got going. But John Salmons hit a big three point shot to make it a 105-103 game.

The Bulls then traded buckets, making it a 107-105 game in favor of the Celtics. Salmons then stripped the ball from Pierce, passed it ahead to Kirk Hinrich, who drew a clear path foul on Brian Scalabrine with 26.6 seconds left in the game. So the Bulls were going to tie it up at 107, and then take a last second shot that would either go in, leaving he Celtics with a little over 2 seconds left, or miss the shot, likely winding down the time in the first overtime period? Not quite, as Kirk Hinrich only made 1 of the 2 free throws.

Paul Pierce was fouled, and made only 1 of 2 from the line. 108-106 Celtics. Then Ben Gordon drove left, and drew a foul on Glen Davis. Gordon took a nasty fall, landing hard on his back. Gordon missed the first free throw, likely shaken up from the fall, but made the second to make it a one point game.

The Bulls had to foul Ray Allen, who sunk two from the line to make it a 110-107 Celtics advantage with 9 seconds left in the ball game.

Then, Ben Gordon inbounded the ball to Salmons, who passed it back to Gordon, who dribbled to the wing, with Paul Pierce on him, elevated for three and swish. Gordon celebrated his three with a nut-check.

Rajon Rondo then missed a midrange jumpshot to bring the game into a second overtime, tied at 110.

In overtime, the Bulls jumped to the early lead, mainly by getting defensive stop after defensive stop in the overtime. Gordon started out the second overtime by making a jumpshot from the free throw line. Salmons put the Bulls up 4 with a layup. Then Rose found Joakim Noah for a nasty dunk to give the Bulls a 116-112 advantage.

Noah was then fouled on a rebound, and split a pair of free throws to give the Bulls a 117-112 lead.

Paul Pierce then threw in a little hook shot over Joakim Noah, and was fouled. Pierce made his free throw to make it a 117-115 game with 27.3 second left in the game.

The Celtics decided to foul right away, and Salmons sank a pair at the line to give the Bulls a 119-115 lead.

Ray Allen then proceeded to miss a three point shot, but the ball was knocked out to Paul Pierce, who nailed a three to make it a 119-118 game.

The Celtics fouled Salmons again, who made a pair to give the Bulls a 121-118 lead with 16.9 seconds left. The Celtics, who were out of timeouts, had to dribble the ball down the court following the free throw. Paul Pierce ended up taking the final shot, going for three, and John Salmons blocked the shot, Ben Gordon grabbed the rebound, and the Bulls won 121-118 in a double overtime thriller.

Derrick Rose was amazing and very bad in today’s game. The amazing, his near triple double, with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. The bad, 7 turnovers. Rose had a turnover filled third quarter which really hurt the Bulls, but he rebounded strong in the fourth quarter. Vinny found a strategy that really worked, which was let the Boston big switch onto Rose in the pick and roll, and then have Rose drive to the basket. This was basically the Bulls’ staple play in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls milked it for a lot of points. With the exception of the third quarter, Rose was amazing.

Ben Gordon showed off his clutch ability again tonight. First, with the shot that gave the Bulls a two point lead at the end of the fourth over two Celtics’ defenders, and then of course, the big game tying three in the first overtime period. Ben Gordon finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds, and played big today. It was not his best overall game, he played pretty good defense in the first half, but played non-existent defense in the second half. Gordon was suffering from a hamstring injury, and that was really affecting his mobility on defense.

I thought Gordon went a little bonkers at the start of the second overtime period. He was just going out and trying to put the dagger, or ten daggers in the Boston Celtics in the second overtime period after making the game tying three. The shots he generated were for the most part good looks, in a normal game he probably generated 6-8 points on them. But given the circumstances of Gordon suffering from a hamstring injury, and taking a hard fall on his back, he should not have tried to take over the game by himself.

But Gordon rose to the situation, hitting the biggest shot of the game. Jon Barry said after the game that Ben Gordon hits more tough shots than any player in the NBA.

Joakim Noah again was the best of the Bulls’ front court. He finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He was making the big defensive plays in the overtime periods, and grabbing the big rebounds. Well done Joakim.

Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas were mixed bags. Tyrus Thomas finished with the double double with 14 points, 10 rebound, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. But he missed some easy shots and was ineffective defensively.

Brad Miller finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds. He drew a technical foul after nudging Glen Davis in the face following a hard foul from Davis. On the nudge, Davis gregariously flopped, making it seem as though Brad Miller punched him. The original call was that Brad Miller committed a flagrant and was to be ejected from the game, but upon further review, the referees saw that Davis flopped, and changed it to only a technical. Miller needs to rebound and play better defense from here on out.

John Salmons finished with 20 points. He was a mixed bag as well. I thought he played horrible throughout regulation. He took a lot of really selfish shots. But he finished with 20 points, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, and made some big plays, including big shots, big steals, and of course, the big block on Pierce. Hard to say he had a bad game when like Gordon, he rose to the situation and made the big plays.

Kirk Hinrich had a big 18 point, 4 assist, 3 steal game. His defense was superb today, and his scoring was a big boost.

Again, Rajon Rondo was big for the Celtics. He finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, for his second triple double of the series. He was difficult to stop once again, but he did not score in either of the overtime periods. The Bulls started giving him some double team looks late in the game, and they held him scoreless in the overtime period.

Ray Allen was great again, scoring 28 points and hitting the game tying three. It’ll be interesting to see how this series plays out. Hopefully Gordon’s hamstring heals well before the next game, as Gordon can play sufficient defense on Allen when healthy.

Paul Pierce struggled again, had a solid game, scoring 29 points, but shooting 9-24. His legs don’t seem to be under him, and that is causing him to miss a lot of shots he was hitting earlier in the year. Pierce had 6 turnovers in the game too.

The Bulls seemed to keep the Celtics’ wide bodies in check today. Kendrick Perkins finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, but the Bulls forced him to turn it over 6 times. Glen Davis had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but shot only 4-16.

Brian Scalabrine played his first game of the series. I thought he looked bad, and hurt them, but his +/- for the game tells a different story, as he was +10. Still, I think playing Scalabrine any type of serious minutes will end up being a good way for Boston to throw away a game.

With the win, the Bulls even up the series at 2-2. Game 5 will be in Boston on Tuesday.

Closing Comments

The first comment I have tonight is Ben Gordon beter be a Bull next year. He has been clutch in all three of the playoff games that allowed him to be. In game one, he hit shot after shot in the fourth to help the Bulls extend the game to overtime. In game two, he rained in 42 points, matching Ray Allen shot for shot. Unfortunately, Ray Allen had the last shot. In this game, he had the go ahead bucket late in the fourth over to Celtic defenders, and then the game tying three in the first overtime. If it isn’t clear that they need to bring Ben Gordon back, then there is something wrong with Bulls’ ownerships, because they will clearly not care about the product on the court if they let Ben Gordon leave in free agency this summer.

The second comment is that Vinny Del Negro can coach. He has done two things that I didn’t’ see Scott Skiles do when he was here. First, he got the team to rebound after a devastating loss. Scott Skiles could never regroup the team after losses like game 3. In the Pistons series, it wasn’t until they were down 3-0 before they actually responded with more energetic, focused play. Secondly, Vinny Del Negro is making in game adjustments. He took advantage of a Rose driving on the Celtics’ bigs once he saw it worked, and then he found some success showing a double on Rondo with one of the bigs. That second one is something he seemed to steal from Tom Thibodeau, who was using a similar scheme to slow down Ben Gordon. Vinny’s adjustment was successful in both cases, as Rose carried the Bulls offense in the fourth quarter and the Bulls held Rondo scoreless in the overtime periods.

Good win for the Bulls tonight. Now go get the win in Boston, and bring this thing back to Chicago for the first possible elimination game of the series up 3-2.

Go Bulls!

The Bulls came home to the United Center to get their butts whooped by the Boston Celtics, who dominated them 107 to 86.

The Bulls came out shooting rough, and never recovered.

This game was a Celtics dominated game. Rajon Rondo was the Celtics’ leading force once again, finishing with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. This guy is full of so much energy, so much aggression, and just leads his team. Bulls aren’t going to stop him in this series, Rose is one of the worst defensive point guards in the league, so they will have to hope that Gordon and Salmons can slow down Ray Allen and Paul Pierce if the Bulls have any hopes of winning this series.

Rondo had to be helped off the court at the end of the game, but I doubt that is meaningful. With an injury like Rondo’s, a lot of times you will feel just fine after stretching it out and getting the adrenaline flowing. I expect Rondo to be fine when out on the court, and to continue to dominate the point guard matchup.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics in scoring with 24 and Ray Allen accompanied him with 18 points. They scored their points, and with the Celtics’ big three all rolling, it was an easy win for the Celtics.

Ben Gordon led the Bulls in scoring with 15 points and also had 2 steals. He shot 5-13, and 4-6 from the free throw line. He started off the game missing some free throws and some shots, and didn’t have much of an impact tonight. He just needs to geti n the gym, realign his jumpshot, and he will be fine.

John Salmons had 14 points and 4 turnovers. He had some incredibly dumb plays in the game.

Kirk Hinrich gave the Bulls 14 points on 5-10 shooting off the bench and Joakim Noah gave the Bulls 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Derrick Rose had 9 points, 2 assists, and 7 turnovers. The Celtics cut off the lane, which rendered Derrick Rose pretty much useless. Rose needs to learn how to shoot the three point ball over the summer if he wants to stop this from happening again.

Glen Davis gave the Celtics an impressive 14 point, 9 rebound, and 6 assist game.

I think most embarrassingly of all, Stephon Marbury had 13 points and 5 assists off the bench off the Bulls.

The Bulls won the offensive rebounds battle tonight, but I think that was more of a function of the Bulls missing a lot of their shots while the Celtics made a lot of theirs.

With the Celtics victory, they take a 2-1 lead over the Bulls in the best of seven series. The two teams play again on Sunday at noon, on ABC.

Closing Comments

I will keep this portion brief. Everyone on the team pretty much played like garbage, while the Celtics played collectively good. Nothing more to this game than that really.

Hopefully the Bulls bounce back strong next game. I expect Gordon will, and same with Joakim Noah, I just hope the rest of the players rebound as well.

Go Bulls!