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Isaiah Thomas scores 33 as Boston Celtics even series

By Jeff Arnold, The Sports Xchange
Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (R) keeps the ball away from Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (L) during the first half of their NBA Eastern Conference first round playoff series game at the TD Garden Sunday in Boston, Mass. Photo by C.J. Gunther/EPA
Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (R) keeps the ball away from Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (L) during the first half of their NBA Eastern Conference first round playoff series game at the TD Garden Sunday in Boston, Mass. Photo by C.J. Gunther/EPA

CHICAGO -- Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points as the Boston Celtics drew even in their Eastern Conference playoff series with a Chicago Bulls with a 104-95 victory on Sunday.

The best-of-seven series -- tied two games apiece -- resumes on Wednesday night in Boston. The Celtics have now won two games in a row after falling behind in the series with back-to-back home losses.

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Gerald Green scored a playoff-career-high 18 points, and Al Horford finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who blew a 20-point lead only to rebound after the Bulls took a two-point lead in the third quarter.

Jae Crowder finished with 11 points for the Celtics, who also got 10 points off the bench from Kelly Olynyk.

Jimmy Butler had 33 points and nine assists for the Bulls, who continued to struggle offensively without injured point guard Rajon Rondo. Nikola Mirotic scored 13 points for Chicago, which also got 13 points from reserve guard Isaiah Canaan and 11 from Dwyane Wade.

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Chicago, which never led over the game's first 31 minutes, took a 65-63 lead with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter on a Robin Lopez basket. The Bulls outscored the Celtics 19-6 to start the second half before Boston stretched the lead back to double figures with a 12-0 run. The Celtics never trailed again.

Boston led 57-46 at halftime after building as big as a 20-point advantage in the first half. The Bulls then made a third-quarter push for the second consecutive game, but they fell short again, leaving the home team winless in the series.

NOTES: Celtics F Gerald Green started for the second straight game in place of Amir Johnson, and Green put up 16 points in the first half. ... Bulls G Rajon Rondo was fined $25,000 for attempting to trip Celtics F Jae Crowder in Game 3. Rondo is out indefinitely with a fractured thumb. "There's always intensity in the playoffs -- that's how it works, that's how it goes," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "The atmosphere is much more intense, everybody is competing for the same thing, and there's going to be lots of things that happen to ramp up the competitiveness." Rondo said Sunday he plans to appeal the fine. ... Even after struggling to replace Rondo at point guard in Game 3, Jerian Grant made his second straight start. Grant played just five scoreless minutes. G Michael Carter-Williams remained in the rotation, and he played eight scoreless minutes. ... Bulls G Cameron Payne was inactive.

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