(My Sportsbook) - The scene shifts to the Windy City tonight for a pivotal Game 3 as the Chicago Bulls try and get a leg up on the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series.

The Celtics evened the set on Monday in Boston when Ray Allen's three-pointer over Joakim Noah with two seconds remaining lifted the C's to a 118-115 win over the Bulls in Game 2.

Allen outdueled fellow UConn product Ben Gordon to help save the series for Boston, which had lost Saturday's Game 1 in overtime and risked going in a 2-0 hole with the series moving to the Second City.

Allen finished with 30 points, shooting 6-for-10 from three-point range, as well as five assists and no turnovers. It was a remarkable performance considering he shot 1-for-12 in Game 1, ended with four points, and missed the potential game-saving shot at the end of overtime.

"Basically all I said at halftime, I need one volunteer to score for us," Boston head coach Doc Rivers said after the game. "And it was Ray Allen. I'm really, really happy for him because he struggled in the first game."

Allen's performance came alongside that of Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who had a triple-double despite suffering a right ankle sprain. Rondo briefly left the game near the end of the second quarter, but returned for the second half and finished with 19 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds.

Glen Davis, starting in place of an injured Kevin Garnett, recorded 26 points and nine rebounds for Boston.

The news wasn't all good for Boston, however. Rivers' club lost another key component of their frontcourt in the game when forward Leon Powe went down. Powe suffered an ACL tear and a meniscus tear in his left knee, and will undergo surgery soon. Garnett, meanwhile, is already expected to be sidelined for the entire postseason with lingering knee problems.

Chicago, seeded seventh in the East, nearly pulled off the huge coup of taking both games in Boston thanks to a 42-point effort from Gordon. The sharp- shooting guard shot 14-of-24 overall, including a 6-of-11 mark from three- point range, and sank a contested jumper with 12.3 seconds left to tie the game at 115.

Bulls rookie guard Derrick Rose, who had 36 points and 11 assists in Game 1, ended with 10 points, seven assists and six boards Monday.

"We left everything out there on the floor," Gordon said. "We could have won the game, but Ray hit a big shot and that's how it went. But I'm happy with our overall effort."

Rose got some better news on Wednesday when he was tabbed as the NBA's Rookie of the Year, A Chicago native, Rose was drafted first overall by the Bulls after playing just one season at the University of Memphis. He averaged 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds while missing just one regular season game for the Bulls.

His first postseason game was even better as Rose matched Kareem Abdul- Jabbar's rookie record for points in a playoff debut and became just the second player to record 35-plus points and 10-plus assists in his first playoff game, joining New Orleans' Chris Paul, who accomplished the feat last season.

Game 4 in the series is set for Sunday in Chicago.