Bulls slump continues in Boston

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BOSTON—Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics held off a furious rally in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulls 110-101 on Friday night.Avery Bradley added 21 points, and Jared Sullinger finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Celtics ended a two-game losing skid.The victory also gives Boston a 2-1 win in the season series with the Bulls.The Celtics were up by 15 points at the half before seeing their lead drop all the way to a point in the fourth quarter.Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Derrick Rose added 27 points, and Pau Gasol finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.The Bulls have lost six of their last eight.After a pedestrian first half, Rose took over by scoring 16 points in the third quarter to get the Bulls within eight entering the final period.Rose rested at the start of the fourth, but the Celtics reserves weren’t able to maintain their small cushion and went cold offensively as the Bulls continued to attack the paint.With Rose back on the court Boston’s lead continued to dwindle, falling all the way to 97-96 on a pair of free throws by Butler with 4:58 remaining.The Celtics settled down after a timeout, scoring eight straight points to get it back to 105-96.Boston was active on both ends in the first half, leading by as many as 16 at one point.They also shared the basketball and had 17 assists on their 26 made field goals.Butler had the steadiest hand offensively for the Bulls, quietly notching 11 points and 11 rebounds by halftime.It helped lessen the damage of the Bulls 13 first-half turnovers. NOTES—The Bulls dropped to 6-16 when their opponent scores 100 or more points….Celtics F Amir Johnson sat out Friday’s game for personal reasons, but is expected to rejoin the team in Philadelphia on Sunday, weather permitting.The Bulls play at Cleveland on Saturday.