The Boston Celtics are on the board.After dropping the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, the Celtics responded Friday night with a 104-87Game 3win at United Center to avoid falling into a crippling 3-0 hole against the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed.Isaiah Thomas did the heavy lifting as a scorer (16points) and distributor (nineassists), and his determination to knife through the Bulls defense in the third quarter stabilized a Celtics offense that sputtered to the tune of 11 second-quarter points and coughed up what was an 18-point lead at the end of the first quarter.CBS Sports' Matt Moore pointed to Thomas' vision as a major reason the Celticswho assisted on 34of 41made shots as a teamhad more rhythm:Thomas' favorite target Friday night was Al Horford, who stuffed the stat sheet with 18points, eightboards, sixdimes and foursteals. He also frequently served as a human exclamation point as he capped off Thomas' slick feeds with emphatic finishes at the rim, as the Celtics' official Twitter account documented:The other big key for the Celtics revolved around long-range efficiency. After scorching the Bulls with seven threes during a 33-point first quarter, as NBA TV showed on Twitter, they finished the night with 17total:That number especially stood out because the Bulls made just sixthrees as a team.Of course, the offense was due for some regression after Rajon Rondo was ruled out indefinitely with a fractured right thumb Friday morning, as ESPN.com's Chris Forsberg noted:Jimmy Butler, in particular, suffered from Rondo's absence, according to CSN Chicago's Vincent Goodwill:Without a reliable floor general,Butler scored 14points on 7-of-21shooting. Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade managed 18points on 18 shots. As far as the replacement point guards were concerned, Michael Carter-Williams and Jerian Grant combined for seventurnovers and three assistsas they struggled to fend off Boston's pesky perimeter defenders.Looking ahead, head coach Fred Hoiberg may consider not playing a conventional point guard and letting Butler and Wade orchestrate the bulk of his team's actions.Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET, TNT) at United Center.
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