Another stunner in Boston as Bulls take 2-0 series lead
What are some other ways to describe a crowd as stunned?
Astonished, flabbergasted, dumbfounded, bewildered, overwhelmed, bowled over.
Any and all words apply to this result. Most NBA observers expected the Bulls-Celtics first-round series to be competitive, even though it's a 1 vs. 8.
But no one saw this coming. Two days after pulling a surprise in Game 1, the Bulls took Boston's best shot and dominated, winning 111-97 before a stupefied playoff crowd at TD Garden.
The synonyms and adjectives didn't apply to those on the Bulls' bench.
"I'm not surprised because everybody's so locked in right now," Jimmy Butler said. "Everybody's putting in extra work watching that film, working on their game. That's where your confidence always comes from. We've got some great field generals out there."
The Bulls led by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter, and the fans in Boston were pumped up for an inspired comeback. All they got was more Bulls domination, the lead never getting smaller than 9 points in the fourth.
As usual, this was an assorted group effort for the Bulls. Butler and Dwyane Wade led with 22 points each. Robin Lopez was dangerous again, with 18 points and 5 offensive rebounds. Paul Zipser was the hot hand off the bench with 16 points, and Nikola Mirotic was hot early and scored 13.
But most of the praise went to former Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who barely missed a triple-double, finishing with 14 assists, 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. Rondo's 14th assist was an alley-oop dunk to Cristiano Felicio that put the Bulls up 102-86 with 6:02 left.
After the game, coach Fred Hoiberg and Wade spoke eloquently about Rondo.
"I don't see anything different from Rondo than when he comes in on a day off and plays 3-on-3," Hoiberg said. "He approaches everything with such a competitiveness, and that rubs off on our players. We were scheduled to have a day off in between two of our late-season games and Rondo's in there organizing a 5-on-5, almost like a pickup game.
"It's who he is. He loves to play, he loves to be out there. He's the ultimate competitor."
Wade used to play against Rondo when it was Miami vs. Boston and emphasized again Tuesday that he "hated" the matchup.
"When we played against Boston back in the day, he knew all the plays," Wade said. "He messes up your first option, then he knows the second option. We were just good enough to have a third option. He's that good."
This was the second time in NBA history a No. 8 seed has won the first two games against a No. 1 seed. In 1993, the No. 8 Lakers won twice in Phoenix to open the series but ended up losing in five games. The Suns recovered to reach the Finals before losing to the Bulls.
Most of the analytical talk from the Celtics' side focused on shoring up their defensive rebounding after the Bulls piled up a 53-36 edge on the boards in Game 1.
"Listen, this is the team we struggled with this the most during the regular season," Boston coach Brad Stevens said before the contest. "It's going to be a huge, huge part of the series for us."
Actually, the Celtics rebounding is sort of like the Bulls' 3-point shooting. Over the full season, the numbers look pretty bad, but after the all-star break, Boston actually ranked sixth in the league in defensive rebounds per game.
At the start of Game 2, the Bulls missed the first 4 shots and grabbed no offensive rebounds. The Celtics jumped to an early 7-0 lead and the Garden was rocking.
Then the Bulls pulled out the Windex and went to work, grabbing 4 offensive rebounds in the next 34 seconds, scoring on every possession.
Boston's greatest fear appeared to be coming true - they don't have the size to match the Bulls on the boards. By halftime, the Bulls had 10 offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, that early Celtics run disappeared quickly. The Bulls went through a stretch of hitting 10 of 12 shots from the field and took a 27-15 lead.
The Celtics countered by giving Isaiah Thomas a short rest and asking their scrappy duo of Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder to turn up the aggressive pest level. It worked for a while, as Boston took a 34-33 lead. But once Butler and Rondo checked back in, the Bulls responded with a 17-5 run and went back ahead by 11. The lead was 54-46 at halftime.
"In our pregame meeting, we talked a lot about keeping our poise," Hoiberg said. "We knew they'd come out and play tough, physical basketball and you have to go out there an withstand runs."
Hoiberg made one change in the rotation, sending Michael Carter-Williams onto the floor late in the third quarter, presumably because Jerian Grant was struggling. Carter-Williams didn't play in Game 1.
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