Rondo ready for good night's sleep after rude welcome home
Rajon Rondo was ready for a rough game Sunday and he certainly heard it from fans at the TD Garden. Rondo, who spent nine seasons in Boston, was loudly booed during introductions and the jeers continued throughout the night.
"It was a very physical game," he said. "I told the guys coming out it would be physical and we wanted to throw the first punch."
The Bulls didn't land the first punch, but took the lead early in the second quarter and, for the most part, stayed there. Rondo was asked what it meant to get a playoff win on his former home court.
"I can sleep at night," he said. "I can sleep tonight and get back at it tomorrow, lock in, we want to watch film and go even harder next game, Game 2.
If the Bulls lost, would he have been awake all night?
"Yeah, I have trouble sleeping. I try to stay even keel, never too high, never too low," Rondo said. "But even tonight, I'm going to continue to play the game back. Isaiah (Thomas) did get 33. So I'll try to do what I've got to do, watch film, break it down and get back at it tomorrow morning.
"I don't know about a statement game. The series isn't over. All we did was win one game. We have three more to go and he next one's going to be even tougher."
Lopez lost and found:
Bulls social media got quality video of Robin Lopez' Seattle Mariners hat blowing off his head as he boarded the team plane Saturday.
First of all, the hat was easily retrieved and sat in Lopez' locker at TD Garden on Sunday. The other question is why the Mariners? The cap is actually a Ken Griffey Jr. jersey retirement commemorative edition.
"I lived on Whidbey Island (Wash.) in 1995, like an hour and half north of Seattle," Lopez said. "That was obviously when they had that team that made the run to the AL championship series, so pretty formative for my baseball experience. I was in second grade."
Lopez moved to Fresno, Calif., not long after and saw no reason to change allegiances.
Wade climbs playoff ladder:
Dwyane Wade is by far the leader in playoff experience in this series. Sunday was his career playoff game No. 167, but he put the achievement in perspective before the contest.
"I was looking at (San Antonio's) Tony Parker has 200-some games (actually 214)," Wade said. "I was, 'All right, I have a long way to go.' LeBron is at 200, Tim Duncan (251), so that's the barometer of success in our game, so I feel very honored to have played 166 playoff games.
"I've won a lot, lost a lot, played well in a lot; played awful in some. That's the beauty of the game, you never know what to expect, so I look forward to what this playoff brings."
By the way, LeBron James played in his 200th career playoff game on Saturday, but ranks behind Bulls legend Scottie Pippen in most victories in the first 200 playoff appearances. The NBA's all-time leader in playoff games played is Derek Fisher at 259.