Rose Blooms to Lead Bulls Past Celtics

Derrick Rose scored a career-high 36 points and dished out 11 assists to lead the Chicago Bulls past the Boston Celtics 105-103 in overtime at the TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday afternoon.

Tyrus Thomas nailed a clutch field goal with less than a minute remaining to give the Bulls the lead for good  and provide them with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Joakim Noah had 11 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocked shots for the Bulls and Ben Gordon scored 20 points.

Rajon Rondo led Boston with 29 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists and Paul Pierce added 23 points but shot only 8-for-21 from the field. The Celtics captain missed a free throw which would have given Boston the lead with less than three seconds remaining in regulation.

Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen was off and connected on just one of his 12 field goal attempts. He was 0-for-6 from three-point land, missed a wide-open dunk and a potential game-tying basket that would have sent the game to a second overtime. Allen finished with just four points.

Rose, the favorite for Rookie of the Year, who was making his Playoff debut, was the hero for Chicago. Ignoring any nerves, he began the game strongly and had nine points and four assists in the first quarter alone.

He shot 12-of-19 from the field for the game.  But more impressively, he hit all 12 of his free throw attempts including a pair with under 10 seconds to go in regulation to put the Bulls ahead.

Rose displayed his full arsenal of weapons, sometimes pulling up for jump shots, other times attacking the paint. He took full advantage of a Celtics defense that was without Kevin Garnett, who sat on the bench for the first half but opted to watch the second half from the locker room.

Garnett's teammates had wanted their leader to be with them to inspire them, but the Big Ticket couldn't handle being so close to the action without contributing. The pain wasn't just in his knee.

The Bulls didn't care how he was feeling.  Led by Rose, they continued to attack on both offense and defense. Thomas and Noah defended the Chicago hoop with the aggression that Celtics fans are used to seeing from their own team.

Boston was without Garnett for most of the last two months of the season due to a knee injury.  They might be without him for the entire postseason, depending on how far they advance.

Judging by today's performance, that might only be for a few more games.

Game Two of the series is Monday night in Boston.