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Rondo had fast-break alley-oop lobs for dunks on consecutive possessions to Johnson and Chris Wilcox that made it 86-72 midway through the fourth.
The Celtics had opened a 59-50 third-quarter edge on Rondo's free throw before the Bulls scored eight of the next 10 points, closing the gap to three. But Boston improved its advantage to 72-66 after three on Rondo's two free throws with 3.3 seconds left.
Boston held Chicago to 34 percent shooting in the first half and led 48-43 at intermission. The Bulls stayed close behind 11 offensive rebounds.
Part of the reason for Boston's quick start may have been the poor showing in Toronto. It was just the third time in club history that the Celtics scored below 75 points and the first in 11 years.
NOTES: Boston was without F Brandon Bass and F/C Jermaine O'Neal. Rivers said Bass' knee "swelled up" after Friday's game and that "he'll be out probably 10 days to two weeks." Rivers said O'Neal had knee and shoulder injuries. ... During his pregame press briefing, Rivers said his former assistant Thibodeau is somewhat like Patriots coach Bill Belichick because "he works so hard and he expects everybody to work as hard as him, which is impossible." Rivers recalled a story about how Thibodeau had two teams chasing him before helping persuade him to take the Chicago job. "He actually had two jobs and I grabbed him by the shoulder and said, `Are you kidding me? You have a chance to coach Derrick Rose and you're thinking about another job?' Are you nuts? I actually said, `If it's a penny to go there or $10 million to go to the other place, take the penny. In the long run you'll be able to coach.'"
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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