Boston 110, Chicago 105 (Overtime)

For the second consecutive game, the Boston Celtics were taken to overtime, at home, by a struggling, but up and coming, second-tier Eastern Conference foe.

[recap] [box score]

Fortunately, for the second consecutive game, Boston came away with a win, emerging victorious after excellent execution on both ends of the floor in the extra period. But this cannot become a pattern. It makes for a dramatic, entertaining regular season, to be sure. But if the goal is an NBA championship, then we can't have our stars playing 40 minutes per game every night.

Bullets:

• Boston once again botched a potential game-clinching possession at the end of the fourth quarter. This one could have cost the game; Rajon Rondo's errant pass to Ray Allen came with fewer than 24 seconds left on the game clock and the score tied, so the Bulls were able to hold for the game's last shot. Dodging bullets, we are.
• Rondo made up for it, of course, by knocking the ball away from Derrick Rose on that ensuing possession. I have no idea how Rondo gets away with reaching across his body to knock the ball away from his man without getting called for a foul, but that's at least the third time he's done it this year, so he must be doing something right.
• Marquis Daniels had a really good game. Daniels started the season looking like he could fill a "go-to " role offensively, to the extent such a role exists on the second team. He struggled in the intervening games, but came up big on Friday night, especially in the first half. On the nights he's been on, which is three of six so far, he's displayed a versatility that we didn't see last season. Of course, that leaves three of six nights that he hasn't been on, and that's why I don't yet totally feel comfortable when he has the ball. It's similar to what I went through with Tony Allen last year, only 100 times less intense.
• Glen Davis had what is a below-average game for him offensively this year. Mainly, he really had a hard time catching the ball. Great defense again, though.
• Kevin Garnett had a couple of big dunks in this one. This excites me, because it means his knee is feeling relatively good. In some ways, he seems more aggressive than he was before the injury. This is not a great week for a Celtics fan to be questioning KG's intensity, but one of the things about Garnett that has frustrated me is that he so often refuses to use his height and athleticism to overpower people. He has remarkable finesse for a man his size -- unprecedented finesse, in some respects -- and it's almost as though he feels obligated to use these substantial gifts. And as fun as it is to watch a seven-footer hit crazy turnarounds and throw the kinds of passes he throws, it can be frustrating to watch that same seven-footer lay the ball in from above the rim, rather than hammer it home. So this is a development I'm glad to see, in many respects.
• Give the young Bulls a lot of credit for coming all the way back from 16 down, especially given the circumstances -- on the road against the defending Eastern Conference champs on the second night of a back-to-back. Give special credit to Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, who responded to Boston's strategy of ignoring them on offense by draining jumper after jumper.
• And yet, Chicago must feel like it gave the game away. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Bulls turned the ball over an inbounds pass. And Boston sealed the game when Noah tried to lead a fast break late, rather than get the ball to a guard. Garnett caught Noah and knocked the ball away, and Boston put it away at the line.