The Bulls giving the Celtics all they wanted — and perhaps even beating them — in the first round of the NBA playoffs wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities entering this series. But the Bulls trucking the Celtics twice in Boston behind a star revival from Rajon Rondo? Did NOT see that coming.
The Boston Celtics are in trouble
Good morning. We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
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Rondo went 11-9-14 as the Bulls took a 2-0 lead over the Celtics Tuesday night as the series shifts to Chicago. Jimmy Butler — who Boston may or may not have tried desperately to trade for at the deadline — was the best player on the court with 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and two blocks.
There’s no actual evidence that the Bulls were offering Butler to the Celtics and Boston was too protective of its draft and personnel assets to swing the deal. In fact, evidence instead suggests that Celtics president Danny Ainge tried hard to convince the Bulls to part with Butler and the Pacers with Paul George, but neither team was ready to move its All-Star.
That’s of little consolation now as one of said stars, a former Celtic in Rondo and a career Boston enemy in Dwyane Wade, collaborate to threaten history. The Celtics need many things to go much better to climb out of this hole, or Rondo’s going to have the last laugh.
Playoff scores ...
MIL 100, TOR 106 (Series tied 1-1)
CHI 111, BOS 97 (Bulls lead 2-0)
UTA 91, LAC 99 (Series tied 1-1)
... And links galore
The Raptors knotted up their series with the Bucks with a Game 2 win at home. It did not, however, inspire a ton of confidence, writes Tim Cato. It should spook Toronto that the game was close despite Kyle Lowry playing like an All-Star and Giannis Antetokounmpo shooting 9-of-24. The bright spot, in addition to Lowry: Serge Ibaka coming into form.
Meanwhile, the Clippers took advantage of Rudy Gobert’s injury absence to tie that series against the Jazz. DeAndre Jordan and friends had a buffet in the paint, though Utah’s perimeter defense remained pretty solid. It’s not certain Utah can stay alive without Gobert over the course of a series, but L.A. sure as spit isn’t guaranteed any victories just because he’s out.
David Fizdale was right: The Grizzlies got hosed by uneven officiating in Game 2 of Memphis-San Antonio, according to the tape. Take that for data.
Memo to Thon Maker: Matthew Dellavedova is not, despite what Australia tells you, Steph Curry. You can’t be celebrating his shots before they actually go in.
Did Doc Rivers compare Blake Griffin and Chris Paul to Karl Malone and John Stockton? Am I ... am I finding myself in agreement with this analogy?
Wednesday’s schedule:
Hawks at Wizards, 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV (WAS leads 1-0)
Thunder at Rockets, 8 p.m. ET, TNT (HOU leads 1-0)
Blazers at Warriors, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT (GSW leads 1-0)
The NBA broke tiebreakers to settle some draft order issues. The Timberwolves beat the Knicks in the most important one. Fire Phil!
International trendsetter Zito Madu writes that Kawhi Leonard isn’t boring; he’s ruthless.
Steve Ballmer took some time off from being fabulously wealthy and watching the Clippers while chewing on a towel to create a vast treasure trove of government spending and revenue data.
Tim Kawakami on the Warriors’ long-term salary cap plan. Take it as gospel coming from T-Dubs.
Ben Cohen on Patrick Beverley, aka Russell Westbrook’s annoying shadow. That’s all I need to say. Via REDEF.
And finally: Stephen Curry, how could you? I picked the Splash God as my Finals MVP. Unbeknownst to me, he had a GQ photo shoot and (excellent) Andrew Corsello feature in the works. The good news: no boy band photos with his teammates this year. The bad news: a $2,000 plaid Armani suit over a $115 Tommy Hilfiger tank top with some Under Armours and no socks all on an airborne, unsmiling Steph means it’s about to be Blazers in six after all.
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