NBA playoff Tuesday: Bulls take 2-0 lead over No. 1 seed Celtics, Clippers and Raptors tie series

The top-seeded Boston Celtics were unable to orchestrate a comeback as they dropped their second straight game, 111-97, to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. The reason they couldn’t fight back, according to Rajon Rondo? The Celtics didn’t have it in them.

Rondo, according to the Boston Globe, repeatedly yelled “They gave up!” to his teammates as the Bulls built a lead as big as 19 to take a 2-0 series lead over his former squad. He blasted his former Celtics team on his old home floor, putting a near-triple-double on their heads with 11 points, nine rebounds, and 14 assists — the benefactor of a poor three-point shooting team that torched Boston for 40 percent shooting from deep.

Three series resumed Tuesday, and all three featured road teams that picked up Game 1 victories. However, in two of the three Game 2s, order was restored and the higher seed salvaged their slow first-round start by evening the series.

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Toronto Raptors take those honors, as both beat their opponents and head on the road tied up at one game apiece.

The Celtics are victims of their own overachievement. The team that finished 53-29 this season probably should have fallen underneath that mark, and they certainly shouldn’t have been the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

It’s hard to fault them for that, but it’s now equally hard to absolve them from their 2-0 deficit to the Bulls. Stats like this one — that the Celtics are only the second top team to drop their first two games to a No. 8 ranked squad — don’t care whether Boston should be here or not. That the Celtics may be on the verge of becoming only the fourth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round since 2000 will live on beyond the actual realities of where Boston should be.

The Jazz lost their defensive centerpiece in Rudy Gobert during the first 20 seconds in Game 1 with a hyperextended knee. The Jazz went on to win that game, on the road, against a Clippers team that couldn’t capitalize on the mismatch down low.

In Game 2, the Clippers finally decided to use that mismatch to their advantage, with Chris Paul getting DeAndre Jordan going early and often. Right off the bat they had two alley-oops to Jordan and Lob City was off to the races.

Playoff Rondo is here, folks.

The Chicago Bulls dismantled the Boston Celtics Tuesday night, marching their way to a 111-97 Game 2 victory. They became the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to take a 2-0 series lead over a top seed, thanks in no small part to Rajon Rondo.

The Boston Celtics, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, are down 0-2 to the Chicago Bulls. It’s only the second time in NBA history that the top seed in a conference has gone down 2-0 to a No. 8 seed.

We all suspected that the Celtics might not be the strongest No. 1 seed we’ve ever seen headed into the postseason, but this is still a stunning result. Chicago finished 41-41, sneaking into the playoffs late in the season. But for most of the year, after struggling to make Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo coexist together, Chicago suddenly looks as good as it has all season. On Tuesday, they waxed Boston again, finishing with a 111-97 blowout figuring six Bulls in double figures.

The Toronto Raptors adverted crisis and narrowly won Game 2, tying up the series at a game apiece against the Milwaukee Bucks. But for a team we thought might challenge for the Eastern Conference championship, this isn’t exactly a confidence builder.

Let’s look where this leaves the Raptors now, where it puts them in their short-term future, and how it positions them headed further into the postseason.

The Milwaukee Bucks missed two shots in a row in a close Game 2 against the Toronto Raptors, and while the third time could have been the charm, they never had the chance.

That’s because when Matthew Dellavedova took his shot off Thon Maker’s rebound, Thon was too busy celebrating to go for another one.

The Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls matched up on Tuesday night in Game 2 of their first-round matchup. The Bulls were in control for most of the first half, thanks to fantastic play from Rajon Rondo. He finished the first half with eight points, seven rebounds, and nine assists. Nearly a first-half triple-double! It also included this ridiculous pass to Jimmy Butler.

Look at Butler on this! This is a wide receiver grabbing a pass.

Serge Ibaka has been an incredible shot blocker throughout his career, but even he has to be impressed with his third quarter effort in Game 2 on Tuesday. Just minutes apart, Ibaka swatted the two longest players on the Milwaukee Bucks roster.

First, he got Thon Maker, whom NBADraft.net says has a 7’3 wingspan.

The Los Angeles Clippers will try to tie up their first-round series against the Utah Jazz at Staples Center tonight on TNT after losing Game 1, 97-95, in disheartening fashion.

It was a back-and-forth affair until the game’s final seconds, when Joe Johnson sunk the Clippers with a one-handed floater at the buzzer.

There are three Game 2 contests slated for Tuesday, and all three feature road teams who picked up the upset in the opening game of their series — including the No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics. It’s unlikely we’ll get upsets from all three of these series, but it does seem increasingly likely that we’ll get at least one. Here’s a quick and dirty ranking of who is most likely to pull off the upset.

3. Jazz vs. Clippers

Kyle Lowry returned from a wrist injury not even two weeks ago. In another setting, you’d love to give him the benefit of the doubt as he eases his way back into a rhythm. But after Toronto lost in Game 1, with Lowry scoring only four points on 2-of-11 shooting, the Raptors can’t give him that benefit of the doubt.

While Toronto boasted home-court advantage coming into the series, it immediately surrendered that to the Milwaukee Bucks in a 97-83 defeat to open up the postseason. It wasn’t only Lowry — DeMar DeRozan shot 7 of 21 and the bench only managed 19 points. But Lowry was the most disappointing Raptor on Saturday, and despite DeRozan’s stellar season, it’s still Lowry who is the driving engine for Toronto.