Fourth-quarter meltdown pushes Bulls to brink of elimination
BOSTON - That old Boston Celtics mystique is alive and well, 50 years after the franchise's gloriest days.
Inside the visiting locker room at TD Garden, Jimmy Butler sat in his uniform, patiently trying to explain how the Bulls played well for three quarters, then let things slip away for a 108-97 loss in Game 5 of their playoff series on Wednesday.
Dwyane Wade walked out of the shower and told Butler, "There's no hot water. It's freezing in there."
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg abruptly ended his postgame news conference when the ghost of Red Auerbach asked, "Coach, did you see Isaiah Thomas carry the ball tonight?"
Check that, it wasn't Red, just a smirking reporter who decided to taunt Hoiberg about his Game 4 complaint. Auerbach and the old Boston Garden are gone, but the Bulls still felt like mysterious forces were working against them in this one.
The Bulls headed into the fourth quarter with a 2-point lead, but lost their poise down the stretch. The Celtics got some lucky bounces and a few contested calls. Instead of shrugging it off and sinking some shots, like they did in the first two games of the series, the Bulls got frustrated and failed to answer.
Boston secured its third straight win and a 3-2 lead in this first-round series. The Bulls will try to stay alive Friday at the United Center and force a Game 7.
Wade and Robin Lopez picked up technical fouls late in the game for griping at the referees. It didn't help the cause since the Celtics were a perfect 23-for-23 on free throws.
"Unfortunately we got a few techs at the end, but emotions run high," Wade said. "I'd rather see that than see nothing. It shows that people care.
"I'm fine with everything that happened. I thought we played very well on the road, amid all of that, for about 44 of 48 minutes. It's just about figuring out those four minutes of how to be better in that span."
Wade delivered a throwback performance, scoring a team-high 26 points. He nearly collected his first career playoff triple-double, adding 11 rebounds and 8 assists.
Butler produced 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but wasn't in top form. Butler hit 6 of 15 shots from the field and the man he guarded most of the night, Avery Bradley, poured in a career playoff-high of 24 points.
After the game, Butler had ice and electrical stimulation on his left knee, but shrugged off questions about being at full strength now.
"No man, I'm good," he said. "I think everybody's a little nicked up right now. I'll be all right."
Lopez added 14 points and Anthony Morrow even got his first extended run of the series, scoring 8 points.
With Rajon Rondo out for the third straight game with a broken right thumb, Isaiah Canaan became the first Bulls player to get his first start of the season in the playoffs since Luc Longley in 1995.
All things considered, Canaan did a nice job. Of course, the biggest consideration is how poorly Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams played against Thomas during Games 3 and 4 in Chicago. Carter-Williams played a little more than two minutes on Wednesday late in the first quarter, while Grant didn't get off the bench.
Canaan tried his best to stay attached to the lightning-quick, 5-foot-9 Thomas. The Celtics star finished with 24 points, but didn't shoot well (6-for-17). He's now 2-for-19 from 3-point range in the last two games.
Boston pulled away midway through the fourth. Al Horford (21 points) finished a 3-point play to put the Celtics up by 5. On the other end, Bobby Portis missed a 3-pointer, then Butler and Lopez fumbled away an easy chance at an offensive rebound.
A Thomas runner and Horford free throws stretched the lead to 9. After a Bulls miss, Canaan was flattened in the backcourt by a screen set by Kelly Olynyk, Thomas drew another foul, and that's when Wade vented frustration at the referees.
"We're in a good place," Wade said. "It is weird because we won the first two here and they came and won the next two. But we're right exactly where it should be, 3-2 going into Game 6 in Chicago and it's up to us to win the ballgame and bring it back here."
"At the end of the day, we've got to win," Butler added. "That's the only way to stop the momentum."
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