Bulls bulldoze past Celtics as Raptors feast on Bucks
los angeles — The Chicago Bulls powered past the Boston Celtics 111-97 late on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead over the Eastern Conference top seeds in their NBA playoff first-round series.
The Bulls, who clawed their way to the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, are trying to become the first eighth seed to topple the top-ranked team in the opening round since the Philadelphia 76ers upset Chicago in 2012.
While both the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers avoided their second straight defeats at home on Tuesday, the Celtics were again unable to solve Chicago.
The Bulls head home to Chicago for game three on Friday with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set thanks in large part to a vintage performance from Rajon Rondo.
Rondo, a former Celtic who won a title in Boston, narrowly missed the 11th playoff triple-double of his career with 11 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds.
Rondo also produced five steals and three blocked shots.
“It’s key when you have a point guard like him that controls the whole game — you’ve just got to play,” said Dwyane Wade. “Tonight, our job was easy. We just had to play. As I told him, ‘Way to run your team.’”
Wade and Jimmy Butler scored 22 points each, leading six Bulls players in double figures. The Bulls didn’t trail in the second half, using a 10-0 scoring run — which included eight points from Wade — to build a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter on the way to the convincing win.
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, still reeling from the death of his sister, Chyna, in a road accident over the weekend, had a quiet night. He scored 20 points but made just six of 15 shots from the floor, missed six of his 13 free-throw attempts and had five turnovers.
Jae Crowder matched his career playoff high with 16 points and said the Celtics were far from done. “(The Bulls) came in and took (it), and we have to do the same thing,” Crowder said. “Take it one game at a time and try to get game three.”
In Toronto, Kyle Lowry bounced back from a lacklustre game one as the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-100 to level their series at one game each. —