Paul Pierce took the initiative and the Boston Celtics took control.

Pierce scored 24 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 and the defending champions beat the Bulls in Chicago 107-86 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round NBA playoff series.

The teams split two dramatic games in Boston, but this one never really was in doubt. The Celtics led by 11 after one quarter and 22 at the half on their way to an easy win.

Game 4 is Sunday.

•Mavericks slap around Spurs: Erick Dampier never messed with Tony Parker. He didn’t have to. Instead of delivering his guaranteed hard foul, Dampier and the Dallas Mavericks slapped around the San Antonio Spurs with tight defense, the return of Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting touch and the energy of their home crowd, turning it into an 88-67 victory and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.

Dampier drew the scrutiny of the league office for saying he would pop Parker on his first drive of this game. Dampier ended up going the whole game without colliding with Parker. Nowitzki had 20 points and seven rebounds, hitting the bench for good once Dallas’ lead reached 30 in the third quarter.

•Williams lifts Jazz: Deron Williams hit a fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds left to give host Utah an 88-86 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Salt Lake City, getting the Jazz back into the first-round playoff series. Carlos Boozer tied a franchise playoff record with 22 rebounds and scored 23 points as the Jazz pulled within 2-1 in the series. Game 4 is Saturday night in Utah.

Golf

Wi has one stroke lead

South Korea’s Charlie Wi took advantage of soft early-morning conditions to shoot a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the PGA’s Zurich Classic on the TPC Louisiana course in Avondale, Fla.

•Ochoa leads Corona Championship: Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a bogey-free 8-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Michelle Wie and Na Yeon Choi after the first round of the LPGA’s Corona Championship in Morelia, Mexico. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., opened with a 71.

College basketball

Several declare for draft

North Carolina players Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington will enter the NBA draft and end their college careers. Both players declared last year so they could work out at the predraft camp and for teams before deciding to return to school, a “testing the waters” option they can use only once.

Others declaring for the draft are Connecticut freshman Ater Majok, who will not hire an agent and intends to assess where he stands with the NBA and return to school. He has until June 15 to withdraw his name and retain his eligibility.

Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez will also enter his name, but because he has not hired an agent could return for his senior year with the Terrapins.

•Calipari loses recruit: John Calipari’s move to Kentucky has cost him one of his prized recruits.

Oklahoma City high school star Xavier Henry announced that he would not follow Calipari after he left Memphis, and committed instead to play at Kansas.

Hockey

Red Wings sweep series

Johan Franzen scored on a power play with 46.6 seconds left, giving the Detroit Red Wings a 6-5 victory and a series sweep over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Columbus, Ohio. The call that led to the man advantage was hotly disputed by the Blue Jackets, who were assessed a bench minor for having too many men on the ice.

•Brodeur has Devils within one: Martin Brodeur tied Patrick Roy’s NHL record for playoff shutouts, making 44 saves in New Jersey’s 1-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Newark, N.J., that moved the Devils within a win of advancing to the second round. With a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series, New Jersey can eliminate the Hurricanes on Sunday in Carolina.

•Flyers force Game 6: Role players Arron Asham and Claude Giroux got the first two goals and the Philadelphia Flyers avoided elimination by beating the host Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 to a force Game 6 in the Eastern Conference first-round series. The Flyers, still down 3-2 in the series, host the Penguins on Saturday.

•Ducks blank Sharks: Rookie Bobby Ryan scored two goals, Jonas Hiller made 31 saves in his second playoff shutout, and the Anaheim Ducks rocked the top-seeded San Jose Sharks again, winning 4-0 at Anaheim, Calif., to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

•Flames’ Roy suspended: Calgary Flames forward Andre Roy has been suspended one game by the NHL after initiating contact with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Aaron Johnson during pregame warmups Wednesday night.

Miscellany

FSU appeals sanctions

Florida State officials told the NCAA it’s unfair to penalize coach Bobby Bowden as part of the sanctions announced last month, resulting from an academic cheating scandal. The sanctions include forfeits in football and nine other sports.

Bowden has 382 career wins – one fewer than Penn State’s Joe Paterno, the all-time major college leader. Losing 14 wins would nearly ruin any chance Bowden has of catching Paterno.

•MLS to receive $10M for Beckham: Major League Soccer will be receiving $10 million for its agreement to extend David Beckham’s loan to AC Milan through the end of the season. Beckham will rejoin the MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy on July 1.

•Alinghi rejects proposal: Alinghi rejected a proposal from BMW Oracle Racing for a traditional America’s Cup race in monohull boats, saying it was preparing to race the American challenger in multihulls as soon as May 2010. •Drag racing pioneer dies: Chester “Chet” Herbert, a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame who helped develop an exhaust header that blew smoke away from a dragster’s rear tires to improve traction, died Thursday in Orange, Calif. He was 81.