The game started slowly, Point Guards Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo throwing everything at each other throughout the first quarter. The Bulls edged that 23-19, Ray Allen being the stand out player of the quarter getting 9 points. He's now just a few points away from becoming the best 3-pt shooter in NBA history. After the break, the Boston offence had a party. They went on a huge run taking them from 19-23 down, to 33-23 up, before closing out the half 49-38.
The 3rd quarter was a messy one with neither team playing really well until the Bull's bench pulled them back within 6pts by the end of the 3rd quarter. Going into the 4th, the momentum was with Chicago and we were treated to one of the best single quarter games for a long time. Both teams hitting HUGE shots at key moments, from difficult positions. 3 3pt-ers for the Bulls kept them in the hunt, 2 from Luol Deng with under 2min 30sec to play. By now both teams were getting tired and looking to kill each other off.
Then, one of the big moments of the game. A missed pass from Rondo to Ray Allen resulted in a chase down to the corner near the Celtic's basket. Keith Bogans dived for it with Allen, grabbed the ball 3 yards from the baseline and managed to call a time-out while sliding along the floor, seconds before going out-of-bounds. This moment with 23.3seconds left, the score 96-96 left the Bulls with all the time in the world to make the final basket. Rose took all the time he could, fumbled and Noah couldn't get the shot off in time.
On to a 5 minute Overtime then. 3 big buckets in the opening minute gave Boston the 100-98 lead, before a solid Kyle Korver knocked down a long 3 pointer. Ray Allen only went straight up the other end and blasted a 3 of his own to bring the lead back home. With the score at 105-103 for the Celtics, Rose lost the ball on a bad pass to Gibson, who then fumbled himself resulting in Rondo tearing away, passing inside to Davis who then won a foul off Korver. Big Baby Davis split the throws but increased the lead.
A second Rose turnover in 30 seconds led to a Ray Allen slam dunk that killed off the game for the Bulls. Deng brought some hope with a nice tip-shot with 38 seconds left to reduce the lead to 3, but on the Bulls' final play, Noah overran his dribble, Garnett stole from behind in a great show of timing and accuracy. Deng took the foul, sent Davis to the line who made both and the game was up.
Boston won their 4th straight and go 5-1, 2nd in the East behind the 6-0 Atlanta Hawks. Chicago lose their 2nd straight and fell to 2-3, 4th in the East. Both teams top their respective Divisions, but the Bulls are in a 3 way tie in the Central Division with the Pacers and a surprisingly strong, post-Lebron Cavaliers.
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