But first, Thomas and his teammates have to see if they can even their playoff series with the Chicago Bulls.
The Chicago Bulls were an unpleasant and often woeful team to watch for large stretches of the season, but the right matchup with a vulnerable opponent is making them look like the best version of themselves. The Jazz's best player during the season was Rudy Gobert, who transformed their defense and had them playing high-level basketball.
Their output has caught up to those desires so far during the postseason.
Not only that, but Chicago received another big assist from a bench player.
"The series isn't over, it's just beginning", said former Celtic Rajon Rondo, who had the task of trying to stay with Thomas much of the night, with Jimmy Butler also helping out. "And that's where your confidence always comes from".
Now tasked with erasing a serious deficit, the Celtics will turn their attention to Game 3, which will tip off Friday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at the United Center.
The Celtics studied more than their normal amount of film in an effort to keep the Bulls from cleaning the offensive glass.
Chicago hauled down an awesome 20 offensive rebounds to win for the eighth time in its last 11 games.
Bananarama's original lineup to reform for United Kingdom tour
She was later replaced by Jacqui O'Sullivan, but her acrimonious departure meant that the original line-up never toured together. After rifts in the band, Fahey controversially left to form rival group Shakespeare's Sister in 1988, breaking up the trio.
Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points for Boston. The Bulls didn't trail in the second half, using a 10-0 scoring run to build a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter on the way to a convincing win.
The last eight-seed to knock off a one-seed came in 2012, when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 4-2, after Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks. Khris Middleton scored 20 points and Greg Monroe had 18.
"It's key when you have a point guard like him that controls the whole game - you've just got to play", said Dwyane Wade. He grabbed nine rebounds, and Chicago outscored Boston by 12 points in the 29 minutes that he was on the floor. Those shots, however, were off almost every single time. The Bulls have now won three of five meetings with the Celtics this season.
"In the second half, the ball stopped moving", Bradley said, per Himmelsbach. "We've got some great field generals out there in these two guys to help out and these younger guys and to make sure they're playing hard at both ends of the floor". "We had some careless turnovers that aren't typical of our team". Portis, who had a huge game in the opener, played just 9:22 and had three points and three rebounds.
"You play the 82 games to learn a little bit about yourself", he said. "And one thing I learned about this team is through adverse situations, this team sticks together".
According to head coach Brad Stevens, Thomas is expected to play in Game 2 tonight and then fly home to Washington for his sister's funeral and to be with his family. But Bradley said while the team continues to grieve for him, it can't be a distraction when they are on the court.
Comments