Ray Allen #20 of the Boston Celtics takes the game winning shot against Joakim Noah #13 of the Chicago Bulls (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images; taken from Yahoo! Sports)

Day 3 of the playoffs continue, as Boston wins on a late three-pointer by Ray Allen, and the San Antonio Spurs even their series with Dallas.

Eastern Conference:

Chicago Bulls 115 @ Boston Celtics 118

Series tied 1-1

• When this series began, the knowledge that Kevin Garnett would probably be out for the playoffs meant that the other members of the Celtics’ Big Three, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, would have to step their games up. It also meant that they needed, now more than ever, solid contributions from their rising star Rajon Rondo, and their young pair of power forwards, Glen Davis and Leon Powe. While Leon Powe left the game due to an injury early in the second quarter (his availability for the rest of the series is unknown), the rest of the key Celtics performed just as needed. Rajon Rondo finished with a triple double with a 19-12-16 line, and added 5 steals, Glen Davis made his presence felt with 26 points and 9 rebounds, and Paul Pierce contributed 18 points and 8 rebounds. The story of the game, however, was the three-pointer by Ray Allen with 2 seconds left, which won the game for the Cs.
• In a duel of former UConn guards, Ray Allen finished with 30 points (28 in the second half) to combat the Bulls’ Ben Gordon’s 42 points. The Bulls’ rookie guard Derrick Rose, who had 36 points in the first game, was limited to 10 points in this one. Despite few productive performances from the rest of the Bulls, they nearly pulled this one out.
• To add to the Celtics’ injury woes, Rondo didn’t finish the first half when he sprained his ankle. He did return to finish the game with his stellar numbers (and he assisted on the game-winning trey by Allen), but the Cs better hope that it won’t bother him for the rest of the series. Both games have been high-scoring, and that is NOT what Boston is known for. It remains to be seen if Boston can slow the game down a bit, and not play at the Bulls’ pace. Celtics’ captain Paul Pierce is confident, however, that his team can still improve and show Chicago the mettle of the defending champs. An encouraging sign for them is the +13 advantage in offensive rebounds (+14 overall) that they had, along with Ray Allen breaking out of the 1-for-12 slump he shot in Game 1.
• The Bulls, on the other hand, have to be feeling pretty confident, stealing one on the road, and having seen both games were winnable. If this confidence continues to manifest itself in the team’s play, then the defending champs might be in trouble.

*****

Western Conference:

Dallas Mavericks 84 @ San Antonio Spurs 105

Series tied 1-1

• After getting shut down in the second half in their first game, Tony Parker wasn’t about to let the Mavs have this one. The Spurs star guard matched the entire Dallas’ team’s output in the first quarter with 19, and finished with 38 points. Tim Duncan had 13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks, while Drew Gooden had 13 off the bench. But the key to the Spurs win was also their impressive defense. After letting the Mavs shoot .538 in the first game, the Spurs held Dallas to .403 this time.
• All the key Mavericks, save for Jason Kidd, felt the ill effects of the Spurs’ tough defense. Josh Howard was limited to 7 points (after scoring 25 in the first game), and Dirk Nowitzki shot only 3-14, to finish with 16 points. Key sixth man Jason Terry scored 16 points on 15 shots, and Kidd was the only bright spot, shooting 6-10.
• This game was a statement game for the Spurs, who so soundly said “Not so fast!” to the confident Mavs. It can also be noted that the Spurs aren’t a stranger to losing the first game of a series and coming back strong - they have won four series after losing Game 1 since 2002. I did figure that the Spurs would win the second game, but not quite in such convincing fashion. Heading into Dallas for the next two games, the Spurs will need to win one on the road to regain home court advantage, and prove that they still have something left in the tank for a title run. Finishing this series as soon as possible will be paramount to the Spurs, as they will want to rest Duncan’s knees, and potentially match up against either New Orleans or Denver in the next round, both formidable foes, especially Denver, which is healthy (except for Kenyon Martin, of course!) and plays a pretty uptempo style.
• Dirk Nowitzki has to find a way to break out. He scored 25 or more points in each of the Mavericks’ eight April games, and hasn’t scored in the ‘teens since late February. He’ll need to increase his output back to previous levels if his team is to have a chance at upsetting the Spurs. I do hope this won’t be another year of choking for Dirk, for the sake of all Mavs fans out there. Josh Howard’s injury might have been a factor in his poor performance this game, and it remains to be seen if he’ll be healthy enough to provide Dirk with the support he needs.