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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 4:44 p.m., Monday, April 27, 2009

NBA: Bulls' Gordon has strained hamstring, MRI confirms

By K.C. Johnson
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — The MRI on Ben Gordon's strained left hamstring revealed no surprises and confirmed the fifth-year guard suffered a strain on a second-quarter drive Sunday.

Gordon played 32 minutes 46 seconds after he said he "felt something pop," but needed a pain-killing shot to do so and winced in obvious pain afterward.

Nevertheless, Gordon vowed to play in Tuesday's Game 5 and underwent treatment throughout Monday, a day the Bulls canceled practice and flew to Boston.

Both Gordon and Brad Miller avoided league discipline Monday.

Gordon had crudely celebrated his game-tying three-pointer late in the first overtime. Miller retaliated against Glen Davis' hard foul with a shove that originally looked like a punch and drew an ejection that was downgraded to a technical foul after video review.

Number crunching: History suggests it's important for the Bulls to try to wrest back home-court advantage by winning Game 5.

In NBA history, the winner of Game 5 from a series tied at 2-2 has gone on to prevail in the series 121 of 145 times, or 83 percent of the time.

Those odds actually increase when analyzing series tied at 2-2 since 1984, when the format of two home games, followed by two road games and then alternating home, road and home games was implemented. In that format, the home team has won 54 of 59 series, or 91.5 percent, when they win Game 5.

Layups: Sunday's double-overtime classic marked the first multiple-overtime playoff game for the Bulls since their triple-overtime loss to Phoenix in Game 3 of the 1993 Finals. This is also the first time in franchise history the Bulls have played two overtime games in the same playoff series. ... Rajon Rondo is averaging a triple-double with 23.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 10 assists and is the first Celtic to post two triple-doubles in the same series since Larry Bird in the 1986 Finals against Houston. Rondo had only one turnover in 55 minutes Sunday.