Is This Happening? Bulls Win Game 2.
The plan continues to work, as Chicago was able to beat Boston…again.
I laughed a lot Tuesday night.
The Bulls have reeled me back in. Gar Forman has reached into the depths of my soul, grabbed my fandom that has been lying dormant and slapped it back to life. He has done it again guys, and the Bulls have done just enough to pique our interest and give management some hope moving forward. This series will not change the overall trajectory of the franchise, but it’s nice to watch basketball that provokes feeling again.
Undefeated playoff head coach Fred Hoiberg and his team will now head to the United Center with a 2–0 series lead — something an eight seed has never done before. They left no doubt, as they beat a hopeless Boston team 111–97.
After being lifeless in Game 1, Nikola Mirotic looked like he was on spring break again. The Bulls’ starting power forward scored 10 of his 13 points in the first quarter. He wasn’t March Niko, but he was present enough. The Rajon Rondo revenge tour continued as he was one rebound shy of a triple-double. He was able to control the pace of this game the entire way and made Boston fans have flashbacks. He was incredible on Tuesday night.
The Celtics did show a little bit of fight in the second. They went on a 10–2 run to open up the quarter, and it looked like this one would be competitive. They were able to tie the game up 36–36. Then, before you could blink, the Bulls were back up 54–46 heading into the half. Robin Lopez was able to out-body the Celtics all night long. It seemed that Boston could not match Chicago’s intensity and size throughout the game, and Lopez took advantage. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and grabbed five offensive rebounds.
The physical nature of this series has progressed, and Boston’s Marcus Smart has been one of the instigators. He was the only one for the Celtics that showed any sort of emotion Tuesday night, and at times you could see the energy slowly deflate from his team. He did finish with 13 points, Isaiah Thomas scored 20 and Jae Crowder had a nice night with 16 points. That didn’t matter. The Celtics never had it.
Jimmy Butler didn’t need to take over in the second half as much as he did in Game 1, but he was still able to finish with 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He was also able to make some ridiculous NFL-like catches throughout this game, thanks to QB1 Rondo.
Wade closed this one out and was able to actually finish a dunk in this game. He was also able to score 22 points, and maybe this will spark him moving forward in this series.
Now, the Bulls have a chance to win the series at home.
*Double takes*
Well, I guess this is happening. Shout out to Paul Zipser who channeled his inner Bobby Portis and came out of nowhere.
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