Bulls knock off Boston to take series lead
BOSTON >> The Chicago Bulls waited until the final night of the regular season to cement their spot in the postseason. Jimmy Butler made sure the wait for a playoff victory was a short one.
Butler had 30 points and nine rebounds and the Bulls outlasted top-seeded Boston 106-102 in Game 1 on Sunday on an emotional night for grieving Celtics star Isaiah Thomas.
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 Celtics with 33 points. But Butler overcame a united Garden crowd and led Chicago to the victory, scoring 23 points in the second half.
“We were so locked in all week,” Butler said. “We knew their stuff, just like they knew ours. But we executed extremely well. We haven’t done that all season, but this is the right time to do it.”
He also got a big lift from the Bulls’ young reserves, who outscored their Boston counterparts 35-22.
Bobby Portis for the Bulls.
Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg lauded his team’s defensive effort, particularly how it outrebounded Boston 53-36. He also had praise for the job Butler did defending Thomas late, after Rajon Rondo picked up his fifth foul.
“Jimmy is obviously our best defender,” he said. “Jimmy is going to have his turn to guard him.”
Rondo said aggressive.
“I told the guys coming out it was going to be physical and we wanted to throw the first punch,” he said.
Al Horford had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Celtics. He was active throughout, coming up with several big baskets and assists to keep his team in the game. Game 2 in the first-round series Tuesday night in Boston. Neither team had more is finished they with wanted to 19 be than a two-possession lead until Butler made three free throws with 4 minutes to play to 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.
It was part of a stretch in which he scored seven straight points.
Celtics fans rallied behind Thomas, showering him with a deafening cheer when he was introduced. WARRIORS 121, TRAIL BLAZERS 109 >> Kevin Durant had 32 points and 10 rebounds in his Golden State playoff debut, Stephen Curry scored 29 points, and the Warriors withstood a sensational day by Portland duo CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard in Game 1.
McCollum scored a playoff career-best 41 points, and Lillard had 34, but the Warriors made the crucial big plays on both ends down the stretch with Portland playing without injured center Jusuf Nurkic.
Draymond Green contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and five blocked shots to help last season’s second-place team take the first step in what it is counting on to be a championship run. WIZARDS 114, HAWKS 107 >> John Wall scored a playoff careerhigh 32 points and Markieff Morris added 21 in his NBA postseason debut to help Washington beat Atlanta in Game 1.
Wall scored 15 points in the third quarter and finished with 14 assists. Bradley Beal had 22 points, and the Wizards got enough from their top players to offset 25 points from Atlanta’s Dennis Schroder and 19 from Paul Millsap. Dwight Howard had 14 rebounds but just seven points. ROCKETS 118, THUNDER 87 >> James Harden scored 37 points to outshine Russell Westbrook and the Rockets pulled away in the third quarter over the Thunder on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
The best-of-seven Western Conference series continues Wednesday night in Houston.
The third-seeded Rockets were up by 20 when Harden came off the bench with about seven minutes remaining. He went right to work — making two 3-pointers to power 10-0 run and push the lead to 11080 with 4 ½ minutes left.