Rondo, Allen spur Celtics past Cavs

Rajon Rondo tied a team playoff record with 19 assists, Ray Allen scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics, showing they're still very dangerous despite their years, opened a 25-point lead in the fourth and then survived Cleveland's comeback for a 104-86 win last night to even their semifinal series at 1.

After blowing an 11-point lead in the third quarter of Game 1, the Celtics almost squandered a much bigger one. They led 91-66 with 9:08 left, but the Cavs scored 15 straight and pulled within 93-83 on LeBron James' basket with 3:13 left.

Boston, though, closed with an 11-3 spurt.

James scored 24 and Antawn Jamison 16 for Cleveland, outscored 31-12 in the third.

The Celtics seemed in control with their 25-point bulge, but they got complacent and found themselves having to scramble down the stretch when they could have been resting up.

Kevin Garnett finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul Pierce scored 14.

Bulls fire Del Negro

The Chicago Bulls fired coach Vinny Del Negro in a long-anticipated move that comes after a late-season altercation with executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and another first-round playoff exit. General manager Gar Forman is scheduled to discuss the firing at a news conference this morning. He did not return messages seeking comment, nor did Paxson or Del Negro.

The Bulls went 41-41 and made the postseason in each of their two seasons under Del Negro, losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games after pushing Boston in a seven-game series last year. - AP