BOSTON — Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including five during an 8-0 run midway through the final period that put Chicago in control, and the Bulls held on to beat the Boston Celtics 106-102 Sunday night in the opener of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Chicago prevailed on an emotional night in Boston, as Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas played the day after his younger sister, Chyna, was killed in a car crash. Thomas played through tears with “RIP Lil Sis” written in tribute on his shoes. He paced Boston with 33 points.
Thomas led a last-gasp effort for the Celtics, hitting a layup with 7.5 seconds left to cut Chicago’s lead to 104-102, but Butler dribbled off a few seconds and sealed it with a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds to go.
Butler scored 23 in the second half and finished with nine rebounds as the Bulls dominated the boards, ending up with a 53-36 advantage.
Al Horford had 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Avery Bradley scored 14 for Boston.
Wizards 114, Hawks 107
WASHINGTON — John Wall had 32 points and 14 assists as Washington controlled the second half to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points and Markieff Morris had 21 points for the Wizards, and Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder scored 25 points and Paul Millsap had 19 for the Hawks. Atlanta made 32 of 39 free throws, but only shot 43.6 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers.
Taurean Prince’s 3-pointer pulled Atlanta within 108-103 with 2:07 left, but Washington countered with four free throws in a row including Wall’s pair with 1:13 remaining.
Warriors 121, Trail Blazers 109
OAKLAND, Calif. — Draymond Green led a defensive surge early in the fourth quarter and backup point guard Ian Clark contributed seven points to a 15-2 flurry as Golden State won Game 1 of the series.
The eighth-seeded Trail Blazers never trailed by more than eight points in the first three quarters and used a three-point play by backup Pat Connaughton in the final seconds of the third period to draw even at 88-all.
But with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the bench, the Warriors turned up the defensive heat to start the final quarter. While Portland was missing 10 of its 11 shots, two of which were blocked by Green, and committing four turnovers in a nearly 4 1/2-minute stretch, Clark hit a 3-pointer, a follow shot and two free throws. Klay Thompson and Green added four points apiece to complete the 15-2 burst that produced a 103-90 advantage.