“You knew if it came down to desperation, we were in trouble,’’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t care how mentally tough you are, when you have one team fighting for their lives and another team in the first or fourth seed, you knew, no matter what, that would be tough.’’
Derrick Rose poured in a career-high 39 points and Kirk Hinrich dropped another 30, and even with Paul Pierce (28 points) doing his best to spoil the Bulls’ hopes, the team that needed the game more took it.
The Bulls’ hopes are alive with their 101-93 win, and the decision locked the Celtics into a slot they didn’t necessarily want to be in, the fourth seed, but one they’ll have to live with.
They’ll face either the Heat or the Bucks in the first round, Miami more likely to clinch the fifth seed with a game against lowly New Jersey tonight. Boston hosts Milwaukee tonight.
A team pegged at the start of the season as one of the favorites to reach the Finals, the Celtics now find themselves as sort of a sleeper.
“We made our bed and now we’ve got to lay in it,’’ Kevin Garnett said. “We’ve just kind of got to make the best out of it. I think our goals were a lot higher than this, but we’ll take it.’’
Garnett played 28 minutes, coming in in the fourth quarter as the Celtics ate away at a Chicago lead that got as large as 9 after Rivers took him off the floor with 3:53 left in the third. Rivers had deliberated before the game about how much to play Garnett, not wanting any freak injury to cost him a key piece of his team for the playoffs.
“We just had to [sit him late in the third],’’ Rivers said. “We needed him in, but I just wasn’t going to do it.’’
Pierce was hot in a 12-point third quarter when he treated Luol Deng like a lab rat, taking jumpers and driving to the rim as if he were experimenting with things he’d like to do in the playoffs.
Rose and Hinrich were clutch in the final minutes, nailing jumpers, getting out on fast breaks, and drilling free throws that put the Bulls ahead, 99-90, with 20 seconds left.
