Gordon's Bulls Gore Celts in Chi-town

NBA Playoff Series Tied at 2

Call it an NBA prizefight. In the battle of UConn stars Ray Allen and Ben Gordon, Round 4 went to Big Ben and his Chicago Bulls.

Gordon scored 22 points, hitting the tying three-pointer late in the first overtime and the Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 121-118, in double-overtime Sunday to tie their first-round series at two games apiece.

The teams split two tight games in Boston before the Celtics blew out the Bulls in Game three.

This time, they stretched the drama into a second extra period and the Bulls made it clear: the defending champions are going to have to earn it if they want to move on.

"This is the biggest game of the year for us, the biggest game of our careers right now," Gordon said. "It was a big win for us. It was exciting."

Allen buried a three-pointer with 9.8 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 96 before Rose missed a potential winning fade away in the closing seconds. Gordon came through with 4.5 seconds left in the first overtime, hitting a 3-pointer over Pierce to tie it at 110, and the Bulls never trailed after that.

"It's 2-2 and we're in a fight," Boston's Rajon Rondo said. "Give them a lot of credit. They stuck with it. They fought back. They executed down the stretch very well and we didn't."

Pierce led Boston with 29 points, although he was just 9-for-24 from the field. Allen added 28, and Rondo again hounded the Bulls, finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists -- his second triple-double of the series.

"We've been here before," Allen said. "That's (what) bothered me so much about this one, because we had opportunities."

The series resumes Tuesday in Boston, where the Bulls took Game 1 in overtime and the Celtics won Game 2.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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