Bullish: Rondo, C's hold off Bulls

Rajon Rondo scored 20 points and added 10 assists while Brandon Bass added 16 to lead the Celtics over the Bulls, 101-95, Monday night at the United Center. The Celtics, who led wire-to-wire, complete a midwestern sweep of the Bucks and Bulls to get over .500 at 4-3 on the season. Rondo collected his 10th assist with 22.4 seconds left to extend his streak of double-digit assists to 31 games. Rondo, who made 10 of his 14 shots on the night, finished just one rebound shy of a triple-double. 

All five Celtics starters finished in double figures. Kevin Garnett scored 15 points, Jason Terry added 13 and Paul Pierce chipped in with 10 as the Celtics won with the starting lineup of Pierce, Garnett, Rondo, Terry and Bass for the second straight night. 

Boston was blazing in the first half, shooting 60 percent in building a 58-46 first half lead. The Celtics bench was a big reason they were able to build a 14-point lead late in the third quarter, as they outscored the Chicago reserves, 22-11, through three quarters. 

The Celtics went ice cold in the fourth quarter, missing 10 of their first 12 shots of the period. They went scoreless for over five minutes before Jason Terry knocked down a jumper with 4:54 left, snapping a 10-0 Chicago run. 

Deng hit a layup and Rondo committed a turnover that led to a Joakim Noah Dunk as the Bulls again pulled to within three again before Terry hit another key jumper with three minutes left. 

Rondo connected with Garnett on an alley-oop with just over two minutes left to put the Celtics up, 95-89. The Celtics again went ice cold and Luol Deng missed two free throws with 51 seconds left but Taj Gibson got the offensive rebound and dished to Deng for the layup as the Bulls got to within two, 95-93, with 49.5 seconds left. Another Rondo-to-Garnett oop with 41.9 seconds left put the Celtics up, 97-93. 

The Celtics became the first team to score 100 points against the Bulls in 16 games. The C's play again on Wednesday when they host Al Jefferson and the Jazz at the Garden, opening a stretch in which they play four games in five days. For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1] and the Green Street [2] blog.