BOSTON (AP):

Ray Allen landed the final blow in a memorable duel with Ben Gordon on Monday night, shooting the Boston Celtics back into their first-round series.

Allen made a tie-breaking three-pointer with two seconds left and finished with 30 points, leading the Celtics to a 118-115 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Gordon nearly carried Chicago to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. He scored with 12.3 seconds left to tie it, the final hoop of his play-off career-high 42 points.

Then Boston set up a play for Allen, who took a pass from Rajon Rondo and connected from the right side.

'Be aggressive'

Allen scored 28 points after getting some advice from coach Doc Rivers at half-time.

"Doc said going into the half, 'be aggressive, but let it come to you'," Allen said. "I never think I'm not in my rhythm. It can be a grind as a shooter. As a scorer you're always trying to find something."

At San Antonio, Tony Parker had 38 points and eight assists to help the San Antonia Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-84 in Game Two of their first-round play-off series.

Dallas were trying to send the Spurs to consecutive home play-off losses for the first time since 2002, but couldn't contain San Antonio's speedy point guard. Parker had 27 points in the first half.

"I was just trying to be aggressive," Parker said. "It was a must-win for us. Big game."

Jason Terry finished with 16 points for Dallas, which suffered one of the worst losses in the play-off rivalry.

Game Three is tomorrow in Dallas.

The Mavericks beat the Spurs 105-97 on Saturday night for their first road play-off victory in three years. But it was hardly rare territory for San Antonio: The Spurs have come back to win four series after losing Game One since 2002.