All comes down to this: Last one to shoot wins
BOSTON - After a historic performance in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics, rookie Derrick Rose passed the baton to fellow Bulls guard Ben Gordon.
In Monday's second game of this first-round playoff series, Gordon erupted for 42 points. Only Michael Jordan has posted higher totals in a Bulls playoff game.
But it wasn't enough, because another former Connecticut shooting guard, Boston's Ray Allen, made the shot that counted most, a contested 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Celtics a 118-115 victory to even the series at 1-1.
The scene shifts to the United Center for Game 3 on Thursday.
After scoring 6 points in the first six quarters of the series, Allen tossed in 28 in the second half Monday. Asked to describe the fourth quarter, when he scored 14 points and the lead changed hands eight times, Gordon drew a blank.
"I was just in the zone," he said. "I really don't remember what happened. Every time I got the basketball, I tried to get a good shot at the basket."
Overall, though, the Bulls turned in an impressive performance against the defending champs.
Still smarting from the Game 1 loss at home, the best Boston could do was pull out a squeaker on a last-second shot. The Celtics had no luck trying to slow the tempo into a defensive scrum, which is more their style.
"I think we showed the Celtics that we're going to be in for a battle and we're going to compete," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "Now they've got to come to our house."
The two sides battled back and forth all night the way they knew best - Boston's bruisers vs. Chicago's sprinters, with the pace definitely in favor of the visiting Bulls.
The tipping point seemed to come when Gordon buried back-to-back 3-pointers in transition to give the Bulls a 109-104 lead with 3:13 remaining. The Celtics answered with an 8-2 run and took a 112-111 edge with 1:01 left on a Rajon Rondo jumper.
Gordon came right back to change the lead again with a 20-footer. Rondo missed a jumper on the next trip, but Allen managed to tip the long rebound away from Bulls forward John Salmons and back to Rondo. Allen then shook loose for a 3-pointer to make it 115-113 with 25.3 seconds left.
Gordon tied it with 12.3 seconds on the clock by knocking down an 18-foot jumper over Allen and Glen Davis, setting the stage for Allen's heroics.
"It was fun," Gordon said of his shootout with Allen. "It felt like we were back at UConn in the summertime playing pick up. He is a great shooter and I knew he would break out eventually."
Added Allen: "I appreciate the competitiveness. I've been watching Ben for a long time. Going back up to school, I've admired his game and I appreciate the competition. When we walk off the floor, we're UConn alums."
The Celtics threw that strong opening punch that everyone was expecting. During a crazy opening five minutes, the Bulls blocked 5 shots but gave up 9 offensive rebounds and 12-second chance points to fall behind 20-8.
But then the home team also did plenty of duck-and-cover, to use another boxing analogy. When center Brad Miller canned a 3-pointer to give the Bulls their first lead at 36-35 at the 9:13 mark of the second quarter, all that early Celtics energy had escaped the building and needed to be regenerated.
After scoring 36 points in Game 1, Rose picked up 2 quick fouls - both after Celtics offensive rebounds - and went to the bench just more than three minutes into the game.
But while Rose was never whistled for another foul, his absence actually seemed to help some of the other Bulls get into a rhythm.
At one point late in the first quarter, Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Salmons knocked down jumpers on three straight possessions.
In the second half neither team led by more than 5 points. Rondo had a triple double, finishing with 19 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. Davis scored 26 points for Boston.
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