BOSTON (Reuters) – The Chicago Bulls pulled off a surprise 105-103 overtime win at defending champions the Boston Celtics in a thrilling opening game in the NBA playoffs on Saturday.
Rookie Derrick Rose produced an outstanding display for the Bulls, who finished five places behind the Celtics in the East, with 36 points and 11 assists in his first playoff.
Chicago, who had a 41-41 record in the regular season, led for large stretches and had an 11-point lead in the third quarter.
But Boston, without key power forward Kevin Garnett missing through a knee injury, fought back well to close the third 72-71 up.
Deep in the fourth quarter, Rajon Rondo showed great mobility after picking up a rebound, to maneuver for a shot that put the Celtics ahead.
Moments later, though, a Rondo foul gave Bulls a penalty with less then 10 seconds on the clock to get the two points and regain the advantage.
The Celtics should have sealed the game in the final seconds of regular time when Joakim Noah fouled but Paul Pierce missed the second free throw to take the game into overtime.
Tyros Thomas produced a jump shot with around a minute left of overtime to put the Bulls in front and then the Celtics’ Ray Allen, who had a disappointed game, missed the chance to tie the game from the baseline at the end of overtime.
Rose tied Kareem-Abdul Jabbar’s NBA record for the most points scored by a player in their first playoff game.
