April 30, 2009

BULLS 128, CELTICS 127

Bulls beat Celtics in 3 OTs, force Game 7

Between the jaw-dropping individual displays, crisp team play and dramatic twists, it's only fitting that this thrilling first-round series between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls comes to a seventh game.

And what a way to get there.

The Bulls prevailed 128-127 in triple overtime on Thursday to tie the series at three games and send it back to Boston for the finale on Saturday night, with the winner advancing to play Orlando.

"If I had to just sit back and I wasn't a player and think about these games, this is great for the fans,'' Boston's Paul Pierce said. "Everybody is getting their money's worth.''

And the defending champions are certainly getting a run for theirs.

A league record four games have gone to overtime, with another decided in the closing seconds of regulation, but somehow, these teams managed to trump all that on Thursday.

Now, the Celtics are trying to avoid elimination after watching an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter disappear and wasting a 51-point effort by Ray Allen that ranks among the greatest postseason displays in the storied franchise's history.

The Bulls took the opener in Boston 105-103 in overtime because of Rose's 36 points and 11 assists, after Pierce missed the potential winning free throw at the end of regulation and had a potential tying basket blocked with 3.7 seconds left in overtime.

In Game 2, Allen won a shootout with fellow former UConn star Ben Gordon and the Celtics prevailed 118-115 in regulation. True, Gordon outscored him 42-30, but Allen hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer at the end of regulation.

While Game 3 in Chicago was a 107-86 romp for Boston, the thrills were far from over.

Game 4 was a particularly wild one, with the Bulls winning 121-118 in double overtime.

Allen hit the tying 3 late in regulation and Gordon did the same in the first overtime, burying one with 4.5 seconds remaining. And in the second OT, Salmons blocked Pierce's potential tying 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining.

But in Game 5 in Boston, the Bulls let an 11-point fourth-quarter lead dissolve into a 106-104 overtime loss because of some big shots by Pierce down the stretch. The Bulls still had a chance to tie it after Pierce made the go-ahead shot over Salmons with 3.4 seconds left, but Rondo hit Brad Miller in the mouth as he rolled toward the rim, leaving him bloody and woozy. Miller missed both free throws - the second intentionally - and the Celtics hung on.

Yet, somehow, Game 6 trumped all that.

Now, the Bulls have a chance to knock off the defending champs. Not bad, considering they struggled for much of the season, but the trade that brought Salmons and Miller from Sacramento certainly helped.

"If they had this team for the full year, they'd be a top four seed,'' Boston's Kendrick Perkins said.