Game 2: Boston Celtics 118 Chicago Bulls 115Analysis: One thing is for sure after just two games of this series and that's how entertaining this series has been to watch. Two classic NBA Playoff games so far and we will get at least 3 more games in this series to have some more classics.
Yes, the Celtics have had trouble slowing down the Bulls offense so far, but if I'm the Celtics, I'm still feeling pretty good about things for a couple reasons. The first is that the Bulls definitely can't stop the Celtics, so they definitely have to feel like they can go to Chicago and score points. The second reason is that the Bulls offense has been great only because Derrick Rose had a monster Game 1 and Ben Gordon had a monster Game 2. Derrick Rose came back down to Earth in Game 2 scoring just 10 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Yeah, Ben Gordon went off for 42 points, but do you really think he's gonna go off like that again? I certainly don't and there's nobody else on the Bulls capable of putting up 30 plus points other than those two. The Celtics did a pretty good job on the rest of the Bulls in Game 2 and barring another monster game from either Rose or Gordon, I expect them to win this series.
The one thing that is killing the Celtics right now is their bench. The starters were a combined +69 in this game, but the Boston bench combined for a -44. This is another area were the Celtics miss KG because he would push Big Baby to the bench and that would help the bench production.
Key Players of The Game
Ray Allen: For the first 6 quarters of this series, Ray Allen was horrible, but in Game 2 he erupted for 28 points in the second half and hit the game winning three over Joakim Noah. That shot was just incredible in the fact that he had to shoot it over Noah the way he did. I thought for sure it was going to be a brick, but Allen knocked it down and was the hero of this game finishing with 30 points and 6 threes.
Ben Gordon: Wow, if not for Ray Allen's heroics, we'd be talking about Big Game Ben Gordon right now. He was simply ON FIRE, scoring 42 points, including 14 of 24 from the floor, 6 of 11 from three, and 8 of 9 from the line. I think Ben just made himself some money in free agency
Glen "Big Baby" Davis: KG who? Big Baby put up some KG like numbers tonight with 26 points and 9 boards on 12 of 21 shooting. He even was hitting jumpshots all night from the outside like KG. He's not even close to KG on the defensive end, but for one night at least he replaced KG on the offensive end quite well.
Rajon Rondo: Lost in the shuffle of Ray Allen's great second half was the fact that Rondo finished the game with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists, and 5 steals. Yup, that's pretty damn impressive. I think Derrick Rose's jock is laying on the Garden floor somewhere right now.
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