NBA playoffs: On emotional night for Celtics’ Thomas, Bulls get win
Jimmy Butler had 30 points and nine rebounds and the Chicago Bulls outlasted Boston 106-102 in Game 1 on Sunday on an emotional night for grieving Celtics star Isaiah Thomas in Boston.
Playing a day after 22-year-old sister Chyna Thomas was killed in a car accident in their home state of Washington, Thomas led the topseeded Celtics with 33 points.
Butler scored 23 points in the second half. Bobby Portis finished with 19 for the Bulls.
Al Horford had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Boston.
Game 2 in the first-round series is Tuesday night in Boston.
Neither team had more than a two-possession lead until Butler made three free throws with 4 minutes to play make it 95-88. Butler scored 10 straight points to put the Bulls back in front early in the fourth, the first of three lead changes in the fourth quarter.
Later, Thomas had a scary moment when he was hit on his left hand on a 3-point attempt before landing awkwardly on it. After a quick visit to the trainer, he calmly made all three free throws.
Celtics fans rallied behind Thomas, showering him with a deafening cheer when he was introduced.
Still, Thomas appeared to be a little emotional at the start of the game, badly missing his first free throw short off the front rim. He wasn’t the only Boston player a little off their game in the first half.
Boston’s second unit started the second quarter 1 for 7 from the field and was outscored 10-0 to surrender the Celtics’ first-quarter lead.
WARRIORS 121, BLAZERS 109:
Kevin Durant patted his chest after two big baskets in the fourth quarter and let everybody know “I got this!” Stephen Curry knocked down a timely baseline 3-pointer, reached his hand high and gestured to further ignite a raucous sellout crowd.
On a day Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum put on a dazzling display of shot-making for Portland, the NBA’s top-seeded team of superstars found its touch down the stretch and defended with purpose.
Durant had 32 points and 10 rebounds in his Golden State playoff debut, while Curry scored 29 points.
For Portland McCollum scored a playoff career-best 41 points, and Lillard had 34. WIZARDS 114,
HAWKS 107: John Wall scored a playoff career-high 32 points and Markieff Morris added 21 in his NBA playoff debut as the Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks in their playoff opener. Wall scored 15 points in the third quarter and finished with 14 assists in the best playoff performance of his young career. Morris, in his first taste of the postseason after 448 regular-season games, caught fire early in the second half to push Washington ahead, and the Wizards held on to take the series lead.