Clippers, Raptors bounce back
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Chicago Bulls powered past the Boston Celtics 111-97 Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead over the Eastern Conference top seeds in their NBA playoff series, while the Toronto Raptors avoided falling into an 0-2 hole.
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.
They'll head home to Chicago 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.
Dwyane 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 to build a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter on the way to a convincing win.
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, still reeling from the death of his sister, Chyna, in a road accident at 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.
RAPTORS REBOUND In Toronto, Kyle Lowry bounced back from a lackluster game one as the Raptors beat the Bucks 106-100 to level their series at one game each.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and produced the go-ahead jump shot late in the fourth quarter.
Lowry, who scored just four points in the Raptor's series-opening defeat, added 22 points and delivered a clinching jump shot over Bucks rookie Malcolm Brogdon.
His basket gave the Raptors a fourpoint lead with 8.9 seconds remaining.
''He always bounces back,'' Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of Lowry. ''He's a competitor. He's a fighter.''
Patrick Patterson added two free throws for Toronto, while the Bucks were left to regret five missed shots to end the game.
That included a threepointer by Brogdon that rattled in and out of the hoop.
Toronto led by one going into the fourth quarter, when the scored 11 straight points to stretch the lead to 12.
With six minutes remaining the Bucks had cut the lead to five, and Toronto led by just one after Milwaukee's rising star Giannis Antetokounmpo's layup with 2:46 to play.
CLIPPERS WIN In Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Clippers turned up the pressure inside on Tuesday to salvage a split of the first two games of their NBA playoff series against the Utah Jazz.
Now, they'll have to keep that intensity on the road as they try to regain the home court advantage they surrendered in dropping game one of the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Los Angeles.
''It's a great arena,'' Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the Jazz's Salt Lake City home court.
''It's one of the few basketball arenas (where) they are sitting right on top of you. The fans are terrific there. And the noise is not going to be for you.
''Having said that, I've never seen a fan block a shot or get a steal,'' Rivers added. ''So at the end of the day, it's going to be only 10 guys out on the floor. You've just got to keep your composure and your trust.''