Bulls-Celtics Series Thrills, Captivates

CHICAGO -- The calendar says late April. Paul Pierce's body language Sunday -- watery eyes, scratchy voice, tired bones, irritable scowl -- suggested June. Last we saw him this out of sorts, he was being carted to the locker room in an NBA Finals drama that became a rallying force. Should another wheelchair be summoned, if only for the man's shaken psyche?

"This was a tough one to swallow," Pierce said Sunday, visibly irked by the wild proceedings in the United Center. "I'm very disappointed that we lost and very disappointed in the way I played. Little things can kill you in the playoffs ... like me not covering the three when Ben Gordon was coming off the flare."

He won't find an annoyed soul in New England who disagrees today. How in the name of Celtic Pride and 17 championship banners could Gordon, bothered by a strained left hamstring that will require an MRI, shake off Pierce with 4.5 seconds left in the first overtime and nail a three-pointer that tied the game? How could the defending champions not listen to their coach, do the smart thing and foul someone -- anyone wearing red and white -- in that situation?

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"We were supposed to foul, switch, everything," Doc Rivers said. "We always foul. But give the Bulls credit. Even when we screw it up, they still have to make the shot. Ben Gordon made a hell of a shot."

Wherever the Boston Celtics are headed this postseason, they'll do so while accompanied by their new twin brother: fatigue. Already weighed down by the loss of Kevin Garnett, they're now being challenged by the Chicago Bulls, who defied their relative playoff inexperience by toughing out a double-overtime, 121-118 victory and evening the Eastern Conference first-round series at two games each. While LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rest their legs for at least a week after sweeping the no-show Detroit Pistons, the Celtics could be extended to seven games or even succumb to the Bulls, who are playing with a resolve that has helped make this, by far, the most entertaining of the league's opening series. How rich has it been? Two games have spilled into overtime. And three games have funneled down to the last shot, none better than a Game 4 classic that saw Gordon's electrifying trey answer a clutch three-pointer by Game 2 hero Ray Allen -- also left unguarded -- that forced the first overtime.

The NBA likes to tell us that its postseason is where Amazing Happens. Well, Amazing isn't Happening yet in Cleveland, where LeBron is bored. And Amazing isn't Happening yet in L.A., where Kobe followed a bad game with a huge game and restored order. But Amazing is Happening in Chicago and Boston, two towns with fabled basketball histories that momentarily have forgotten about Jordan and Bird and all the rest.

"Everybody I'm talking to is saying this is the most exciting series that they're watching right now," Gordon said.

"Just a great basketball game," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.



Mr. Pierce? "I'm not going to cry over spilled milk," he said. "But when we're up by three with less than 10 seconds left, you've got to close."

It may prove inconsequential in the big picture, with the Cavaliers and Lakers still earmarked for what could be a vintage Finals showdown. But this might be the best NBA show you'll see until LeBron vs. Kobe. Did you notice the bull that ran rampant in a supermarket in Ireland, your latest viral video on YouTube? That beast has nothing on Derrick Rose, whose fearless, twisting thrusts to the basket have taken on a highlight trademark of their own. He'd be the talk of the series if not for his point guard rival, Rajon Rondo, who has been the most consistently sensational performer in the first round -- sorry, LeBron -- and is doing things with statistical lines that painters do with canvas.

Remember when a teammate and trainer carried Rondo off the court after Game 3 so he could stay off his sore foot and tender ankle? Remember all the concern in Boston? Rondo answered Sunday with 55 minutes of transcendent fun: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover. Rose nearly matched him, falling one assist shy of a triple-double, but lost the solo battle with seven turnovers. Not that he cares about anything but the team battle. And the opportunity that awaits Tuesday night in TD Garden, where the Bulls have confidence after stealing Game 1 beneath the title banners.

"We need to come out, be aggressive, play hard the whole game, dive on the floor for loose balls," said Rose, smelling blood. "Whatever it takes to win that game, we've got to do it."

And how is he enjoying his duel with Rondo, which is developing into a rivalry that could last into the 2020s? "It's fun, playing against each other. We're just competing, playing hard," said Rose, who traded aggressive baskets with Rondo during a furious fourth quarter. "Everyone was making a big shot today. Big shot after big shot, playing our hearts out. He's a good point guard. He pushes the ball, finds the open person. He's a good scorer and rebounder. He does everything you want a point guard to do."

Except win Game 4, though it hardly was his fault. "It's 2-2 and we're in a fight," 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."

If the Celtics are to survive without a shocking end to their title reign, Rondo will have to lead them through the gauntlet. "We need him to keep playing at the highest level," Pierce said. "We've got to keep him going. He has the keys to the engine right now. He's playing MVP-caliber ball."

I must admit, the Bulls are growing on me. Only 10 weeks ago at the All-Star Game, general manager John Paxson was rumored to be in resignation mode as his shaky creation seemed bound for another lottery. Rather than quit, Paxson blamed the media (weak) and made a difference-making deal (strong), getting John Salmons and Brad Miller from Sacramento for Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden. Salmons has provided much-needed scoring and made the biggest defensive play in Game 4, blocking Pierce's three-point attempt at the final buzzer. Miller is a useful big man who didn't back down in the fourth quarter when Big Baby Davis, all 300 pounds of him, delivered a hard foul. Davis had both arms wrapped around Miller, who responded by wrapping an arm around Davis and getting in his face. At first, it appeared he may have head-butted Davis, but, in truth, Big Baby flopped in a hokey wrestling move after Miller grazed his head. The officials looked at the replay and decided Miller would not be ejected, instead receiving a technical foul. Good thing, replay.

It would have been easy for the Bulls to sag and fade away after Allen's back-breaker at the end of regulation. And why, by the way, wasn't anyone guarding Allen, who won Game 2 with a bomb at the buzzer and merely is one of the greatest shooters ever? "People think it's real easy to foul sometimes, but these guys are big and fast, and next thing you know, they're in the act of shooting," said Del Negro, who still drives us crazy in his first postseason as an NBA coach. "But I don't like it when we give up three-point plays. We have to wrap guys up." Point is, they survived their mistake long enough to force the Celtics into their own error, when Gordon was allowed to wheel around the perimeter and hit the biggest shot in Chicago since You Know Who. In the wake of the '90s dynasty, maybe the most compelling sports extravaganza of all time, the likes of Gordon and Kirk Hinrich have experienced more futility than success. Now, finally, maybe that pattern is changing.

"This is No. 1, easy. This is the biggest game of our careers," Gordon said. "This says we never give up. We've got a lot of fight in us."

"This team has a lot of heart, a lot of character," Salmons said.

"I like the way we kept fighting and didn't give in," Del Negro said. "It looked bleak, but we didn't give up."

So where do we go from here, now that we've established an Allen-Gordon duel straight out of Jim Calhoun's Connecticut practice gym and a Rose-Rondo point guard duel for the cool kids? The bad news for the Celtics is, they have to return to the United Center for Game 6. "Maybe we like Chicago," said Rivers, a local native. "The pizza's friggin' good."

The good news? We get to watch at least two more games.