The Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 106 - 80 behind a strong performance from Rajon Rondo.
The kid was brilliant - 16 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. He lead the offense with precision. He was pulling the right strings all night long. Defensively, he did a tremendous job guarding Derrick Rose (19 points, 8-19 FG) off the ball, denying him at every turn.
The game turned in the third quarter, where the Celtics turned a 8-point halftime lead into a 20 point cushion. While I'll credit the Celtics for attacking Chicago on both ends of the floor, the Bulls looked like a team that had played 4 games in 5 nights.
Rasheed Wallace (15 points, 5 rebounds) had a strong night. He repeatedly took the ball right at Joakim Noah in the post in the 2nd quarter.
Kevin Garnett finished with 12 points (6-8 FG), 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.
Brad Miller was, well... Brad Miller. He hacked and flopped around the court all night. He was hit with a flagrant foul in the 1st quarter after slamming Rondo to the floor.
Paul Pierce was aggressive early. He came out shooting in the 1st quarter (8 of his 14 points), but struggled overall. He wrenched his shoulder in the 3rd quarter, but came back in the game. While it looked painful, I don't think it was anything serious.
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Photos from the game, including a snapshot of the Miller flagrant foul, after the jump.
(Photos by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)