The eight-seeded Chicago Bulls again stunned the top-seeded Boston Celtics with an 111-97 game two victory in Boston. The Bulls are two wins away in clinching a spot in the NBA Eastern semi-finals.
All five starters for the Bulls scored double figures as Dwayne Wade, and Jimmy Butler led the team with 22 points each, Robin Lopez with 18 points while Rajon Rondo had 11 points, 14 assists, and nine rebounds, just one shy of a triple-double.
The Bulls only had a 41-41 regular season record.
Boston Celtics’ backs against the wall
The Celtics started the game relatively fine, scoring the game’s first seven points until the Bulls took over the game with their dominating control of the offensive glass.
The Bulls had a 43-38 rebounding advantage over the Celtics.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Celtics came within 91-82 before the Bulls went on a 14-4 rampage that pushed their lead to 19 points. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics in scoring with 20 points but only made 7 out of 13 shots from the free throw line.
The Celtics shot a decent 46% for the game.
According to a report by USA Today, Celtics guard Avery Bradley said, “Even when we made a good play, got a steal, got an offensive rebound, we were just thinking quick 3s. As a polished team, we have to know when to take those shots and when not to.”
The Celtics finished the game with 16 turnovers that led to 23 Bulls points.
Boston will head to Chicago on Friday for game 3 in a 0-2 hole.
Chicago dominated the paint
The Bulls took advantage of their big men to push the Celtics out of the paint. Chicago outscored Boston 32-20 in the paint.
The Celtics were able to contain Bobby Portis in Game 2, who had 19 points for Bulls in game 1. However, the Celtics were surprised by Paul Zipser for scoring 16 points in 29 minutes.
Butler, who also had eight rebounds and eight assists, was very confident after the game. He says he's not surprised because the team is locked in.
Nikola Mirotic had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls. Regarding fast-break points, Chicago also led the category with a 14-9 advantage over Boston.
Chyna Thomas’ funeral
Thomas will head to Tacoma, Washington to finalize the funeral arrangements for his sister, Chyna Thomas. He did not make any statements to the media after the game. Bradley said that the team must not be distracted when they are playing on the court but also stated that they continue to grieve for Thomas.
Chicago will host game three on Friday.
