Bulls fall at final hurdle
It was a series that will go down as a classic, the Boston Celtics versus the Chicago Bulls first round playoff for the 2009 NBA finals. So much drama, so many OT’s, but in the end there could only be one team to advance.
Was it going to be the defending champions? or the young Bulls team? After one quarter it looked like it could be the Bulls. They opened with a 28-23 first quarter. Early in the second things were looking good as well. The Bulls led 36-30 with 8 minutes to play before the halftime break.
Then someone flipped a switch and the Celtics got hot. The Bulls could only add another two points, and they came as 1 from 2 free throws. Boston scored 22 points to setup a win. At the half it was 52-38. The question now was would this be a blowout or did the Bulls have a comeback left in them?
The Bulls did give it a shake. The second of two free throws by Ben Gordon got the Bulls to within three points with 5.39 left to play in the final quarter. This time there was to be no overtime as the Celtics fought off the challenge and then jumped away from the Bulls. The final score was 109-99. The Celtics advance to round two where they face the Orlando Magic.
For Chicago Ben Gordon led the scoring with 33 points. Derrick Rose could only manage 18 points. Hinrich added 16, most of them came in the final quarter as the Bulls tried to catch the Celtics.
Ray Allen after his huge haul in game 6 came up with 23 points for Boston and Paul Pierce added 20.
All but one of the round two teams are now known. The final match of the opening round of games will be played on Sunday afternoon as Atlanta host Miami. The winner of the series will advance to a showdown against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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