CHICAGO – Another playoff thriller between Chicago and Boston, and this one went to the Bulls.
If the Celtics want to advance, they’re going to have to earn it.
Ben Gordon scored 22 points, hitting the tying 3-pointer in the first overtime, and the Bulls beat the defending champions 121-118 in double overtime Sunday to tie their first-round series at two games apiece.
The teams split two tight games in Boston, before the Celtics blew out the Bulls in Game 3. This time, they stretched the drama into a second overtime.
“Everybody I’m talking to is saying this is the most exciting series that they’re watching right now,” Gordon said.
It’s tough to argue.
Derrick Rose added 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. John Salmons scored 20 points after a slow start, hitting four free throws in the final 26 seconds of the game and blocking Paul Pierce’s tying 3-pointer.
Boston’s Ray Allen buried a 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 96 before Rose missed a potential winning fadeaway in the closing seconds. Gordon came through with 4.5 seconds left in the first overtime, hitting a 3-pointer over Pierce to tie it at 110, and the Bulls never trailed in the second OT.
Salmons hit two free throws with 26 seconds left and, after a 3-pointer by Pierce, he hit two more at the line. After a timeout, Pierce got the ball on the left side but couldn’t shake Salmons, who deflected his 3-pointer.
It was a dramatic end to another dramatic game. The series goes back to Boston, where the Bulls took Game 1 in overtime and the Celtics won Game 2 by three, on Tuesday.
“It’s 2-2 and we’re in a fight,” Boston’s Rajon Rondo said. “Give them a lot of credit. They stuck with it. They fought back. They executed down the stretch very well and we didn’t.”
Pierce led Boston with 29 points, although he was just 9-for-24.
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MONDAY’S NBA PLAYOFFS
Atlanta at Miami 5 p.m., TNT
Denver at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Utah at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m., TNT