There will be two days to rehash these incredible first two games of the Bulls-Celtics playoff series. So it might be interesting, in light of Ben Gordon's big performance on Monday, to take a little quiz.
Off the top of your head, estimate how many times Jordan scored 42 or more points in a playoff game and I'll give the answer below. Sorry, no prize for guessing correctly.
--Here's a quote from Paul Pierce that didn't make the game stories: “I think we feel very confident because we feel like we haven't even played good basketball yet. We win tonight and felt like we should have won Game 1 and I feel like this is pretty much our C game. We were a team that doesn't give up 100 points in consecutive games or allow teams to shoot 49-50 percent. I think our best is yet to come in this series.”
--Anyway, these first two contests seemed to show that the Celtics aren't any better than the Bulls without Kevin Garnett. But Game 3 on Thursday at the United Center could be a turning point.
Sometimes teams have a tendency to relax at home and that would give Boston an opportunity to take control of the series. But if the Bulls bring the same intensity they had at the Garden, they could easily be up 3-1 by the end of the weekend.
In Game 2, Gordon became the only Bulls player besides Michael Jordan to score at least 42 points in a playoff game. Flynn Robinson had 41 against the Lakers in 1968, by the way.
The Bulls also need to figure out how they managed to out-rebound the Celtics 53-45 in Game 1, led by 17 from Joakim Noah. In Game 2, Boston won the boards 50-36 and outscored the Bulls 32-12 in second-chance points. The Celtics got more than their fair share of fortunate bounces off long rebounds and blocked shots, but the Bulls also let themselves get pushed around by Kendrick Perkins and company.
--All right, back to Jordan. He scored at least 42 points in a playoff game 33 times in his career. Gordon has a ways to go.
