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Rondo, Perkins, Pierce Big enough 3 for Celtics

By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer Apr 28, 11:27 pm EDT

Preview | Box Score | Recap | Series Breakdown
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BOSTON (AP)—Kevin Garnett was in street clothes. Ray Allen fouled out. The Boston Celtics’ Big Three was down to one, and Paul Pierce was ready.

The MVP of last year’s NBA finals scored 26 points, hitting one jumper to tie the game at the end of regulation and three more in the final 77 seconds of overtime on Tuesday night to help the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 106-104 and take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series.

“I just thought when Ray fouled out it was time for me to really step up,” said Pierce, who scored 12 points in the 10 minutes after Allen left the game. “Better late than never.”

Rajon Rondo scored 28 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Kendrick Perkins had 16 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks for Boston. The Celtics could finish the Bulls off in Chicago on Thursday in Game 6; if not, the decisive seventh game would be in Boston on Saturday.

Ben Gordon scored 26 and Joakim Noah had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Chicago, but Brad Miller missed the potential game-tying free throws with 2 seconds left in overtime after Rondo fouled him to prevent an easy layup.

“Paul Pierce was unbelievable,” Noah said. “Guys are hitting crazy shot after crazy shot. It’s all about who’s going to make that shot at the end of the game. We had our chances, and that’s what makes it so tough. But we’ll be back: I still feel that we can win the series.”

It was the third time in five games the teams have needed overtime, a surprising first-round struggle for the defending NBA champions. This time, they did it with two of the Big Three on the bench: Garnett is out for what could be the entire playoff run with strained ligaments in his right knee, and Allen— who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2—fouled out with 5:27 left in regulation.

“When you’ve got Ray fouled out of the game and you’re searching for bodies, it didn’t look good,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “And we dug down and won the game.”

Pierce made a jumper to give Boston a 102-101 lead with 1:17 left, then hit another with 37 seconds to play to make it 104-101. Boston’s defense nearly forced a stop, but Tony Allen fouled Gordon while he was attempting a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left; Gordon hit all three free throws to tie it 104-all.

Pierce got the ball and dribbled down the clock before hitting a long 2-pointer over John Salmons with 3.4 seconds remaining. Pierce played 50 minutes, 40 seconds—all but 2:20 of the game.

“He was just doing what he was supposed to be doing: being the captain, being Paul Pierce, ‘the Truth,”’ said Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who scored 21. “You’ve seen it a dozen times; I think since I’ve been here I’ve seen it a million times, so nothing surprised me.”

The Bulls called a timeout and got the ball in to Miller, who had a surprisingly clear path to the basket but appeared to sail a layup wide. The clock expired and the Boston Garden crowd celebrated, but the referees immediately huddled, called a foul on Rondo and put Miller on the line with 2 seconds left.

He missed the first one badly, then tried to miss the second on purpose but failed to hit the rim.

Miller got stitches in his mouth after the game, and Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said it should have been called a flagrant foul. Kirk Hinrich also needed stitches, for a cut above his eye, Del Negro said.

“We got a lot of guys getting head shots this series—I mean a whole lot of them—and it hasn’t been a flagrant. So everybody’s had to shake off these high hits,” Miller said. “I didn’t see it but I felt it. … There was blood on the floor. I don’t even know if they got it all cleaned off.”

The Bulls led 77-66 early in the fourth before the Celtics scored nine in a row to make it 83-82 with 4:27 left. But the run was costly because Ray Allen fouled out 18 seconds after hitting a key 3-pointer. Gordon hit a leaner from the right side to give the Bulls the lead with 16 seconds left.

But Pierce sank a 15-foot spinner from the key to tie it at 93 with 10.5 seconds left and send it into overtime.

Notes

Capt. Richard Phillips of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, which was captured by Pirates, was honored during a break in the second quarter and presented with a personalized jersey by the Celtics’ owners. Other celebrities in the crowd included Christopher Mintz-Plasse of the movie “Superbad” and musical group Jada.

Updated Apr 28, 11:27 pm EDT
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331 Comments

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  1. <i>ktruly6c9</i>
    331. Posted by ktruly6c9 Thu Apr 30 7:55pm EDT

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    i love how boston fans will do anything to protect their team........the current boston celtics are the@#$%iest and dirtiest team in the history of basketball.....why wont you admit it? biggest dirtbags......i hope you idiots make it to the finals so the lakers can clown on you.......i doubt you can even get by cleveland though......DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY........i cant say it enough.........no class at all........cant believe the refs let rondo trip hinrich, hack at miller's face, and now as im watching game 6, he pulls hinrich's arm and throws him into the scorer's table.......i mean what does it take for this dirtbag to get a flagrant 2? LAKERS ARE GONNA BURY YOU MISERABLE F***S
  2. Hate You
    330. Posted by Hate You Thu Apr 30 6:26pm EDT

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    Here's the bottom line, score. So what if someone jacked u up on the way to the basket. You are given 2 free throws, make them. Soft teams don't win championships. Lay some wood on Rhondo next time he goes in for an easy layup. None of this talk about Ref's and so forth. We all know, the refs suck. So do something about it, win. Make shots when you have possession and make stops when you don't. If the only thing you can do is complain about the officiating, your not going to win.
  3. Hate You
    329. Posted by Hate You Thu Apr 30 6:19pm EDT

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    No crying only winning in the playoffs. Complaining that life's not fair does not make it more fair. They lay some elbows, you lay some elbows. They hurt you, you hurt them. Every player has 5 fouls to give before taking a seat. Use them.

    This is not playground ball where you call your own fouls. I have never seen a soft team win an NBA championship. Came close, but never. You wanna win, better lay some dirt down.
  4. <i>abayrob</i>
    328. Posted by abayrob Thu Apr 30 3:06pm EDT

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    Celtics vs. cavallers 2009 NBA FINALS
  5. BIG J-
    327. Posted by BIG J- Thu Apr 30 1:34pm EDT

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    Vinny Del Negro is a great basketball mind. Afterall he is from the "Home of Basketball" Springfield, Massachusetts. Same state that Boston is located. GO CELT!!!
  6. BIG J-
    326. Posted by BIG J- Thu Apr 30 1:13pm EDT

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    It is obvious that most of you are too young to form complete sentences or spell simple words correctly. Fouls are part of the game. If they called it a flagrant foul, Miller would still have to shoot the free throws and then they would have the ball back with 2 seconds. I heard that the Bulls have come out saying that if Rondo comes down the lane, they are going to hit him hard. Well, last I checked, he has been coming down the lane ALL series and they have been hitting him hard and knocking him to the floor almost everytime. The Bulls will retaliate and probably end up having players ejected. The Celtics will remain cool and calm, win the game and then move on to the next series. They are more mature AND they are the defending world champions. I hope I didn't offend anyone by spelling correctly. If Miller were any kind of player he would have thrown down that dunk, hit the 2 free throws and won the game.
  7. red dog
    325. Posted by red dog Thu Apr 30 8:33am EDT

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    bulls fans cryings about the refs can you stop long enough and have mommy change your diaper and SHUT THE HELL UP
  8. Taison
    324. Posted by Taison Thu Apr 30 2:18am EDT

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    Boston is a pretty dirty team.
  9. Daniel L
    323. Posted by Daniel L Wed Apr 29 8:20pm EDT

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    we all know bostononians are fairweather fans...and that should have been a flagrant on rando. the NBA is just messed up.
  10. Tyroli
    322. Posted by Tyroli Wed Apr 29 5:48pm EDT

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    aka jwaunna ronda will be taken out of her game thursday
  11. jonathan s
    321. Posted by jonathan s Wed Apr 29 5:39pm EDT

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    They need to change it to the Big 4. Because Rondo is a stone cold baller. When I look at my top 5 point guards in the league, he's right there.
  12. Tyroli
    320. Posted by Tyroli Wed Apr 29 5:20pm EDT

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    that pointe guard for celtics sure is pretty
  13. stevenk
    319. Posted by stevenk Wed Apr 29 5:07pm EDT

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    hey ronnie g says shoulda gave the pirates and award for a hard foul at sea and foget about it!! why give that captain anything just a whiner!!! it's the game of life it's how it's to be played huh ronnie g?? the game had the bulls in ststches the boston thugs yeah!!!! gonna be a tainted series victory if they win. but what goes around comes around is why the captain came out on top. can't wait to hear bostoniians whine when theirs comes!!!! the spurs look pretty humble now ronnie. they hit and no one fell this year ha!
  14. stevenk
    318. Posted by stevenk Wed Apr 29 5:02pm EDT

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    hey ronnie g says shoulda gave the pirates and award for a hard foul at sea and foget about it!! why give that captain anything just a whiner!!! it's the game of life it's how it's to be played huh ronnie g?? the game had the bulls in ststches the boston thugs yeah!!!! gonna be a tainted series victory if they win. but what goes around comes around is why the captain came out on top. can't wait to hear bostoniians whine when theirs comes!!!! the spurs look pretty humble now ronnie. they hit and no one fell this year ha!
  15. Johnny
    317. Posted by Johnny Wed Apr 29 4:08pm EDT

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    Doc was on Perk about the moving screen that he kept getting called for. I think he finally listened.
  16. William H
    316. Posted by William H Wed Apr 29 4:00pm EDT

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    Its just weird John...... Powe goes down then next game no fouls called on Perkins how nice.
  17. William H
    315. Posted by William H Wed Apr 29 3:57pm EDT

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    Sorry John I'm just venting hehe
  18. William H
    314. Posted by William H Wed Apr 29 3:52pm EDT

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    Well said..... I don't care for him but he does get the Job down I must admit that!!!!
  19. Johnny
    313. Posted by Johnny Wed Apr 29 3:52pm EDT

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    Will, those are 4 unrelated statements. You may be having a stroke and your brain is firing off random sentences that in no way belong next to each other.
  20. seelisilus
    312. Posted by seelisilus Wed Apr 29 3:48pm EDT

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    people shud stop calling allen, garnett and pierce the "big 3"!!! i say it's rondo who's the big 1!!!..heck, he's churning huge numbers in almost all departments! while allen and pierce do score, so does rondo, adding almost a double-double average in assists and rebounds..those so-called big three can't produce these numbers! rondo shud get the huge piece of the pie in boston, not garnett.
  21. William H
    311. Posted by William H Wed Apr 29 3:43pm EDT

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    You Boston fans are classless read you guys comments...... I'm sure Chicago is bigger and nastier then Boston but from reading these comments who could tell? How do you explain Perkins playing 49 minutes without one foul called? This is a guy who can barely stand up straight.
  22. Johnny
    310. Posted by Johnny Wed Apr 29 3:42pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    You said you'd love to see someone slap me in the face, that's classy dude.

    You keep saying classless, but at no point have you demonstrated that you know what it means.
  23. Johnny
    309. Posted by Johnny Wed Apr 29 3:38pm EDT

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    Remember when Miller threw a punch at Davis in game 4.

    KARMA @#$%
  24. Johnny
    308. Posted by Johnny Wed Apr 29 3:35pm EDT

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    Stop acting like Rondo's foul was the first hard foul in the history of the world. Both teams commit hard fouls, no one is cheating or dirty, the refs suck for all.

    BTW "Rondo is a goon" is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You have no knowledge of sports and you should have been drowned as a child.
  25. Victor
    307. Posted by Victor Wed Apr 29 3:34pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Celtics !!!!!! green power!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahhahahhahahahah
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Top Performers

 Top Performers
 Chicago
B. Gordon Ben Gordon
6-21,  26 Pts
3 Rebs, 6 Assists
 Boston
R. Rondo Rajon Rondo
12-22,  28 Pts
8 Rebs, 11 Assists

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