Nets wrap up Pacers to advance

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New Jersey Nets capped a stirring
series comeback with a 96-90 win over the Indiana Pacers on
Thursday to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Richard Jefferson scored 30 points and Jason Kidd flirted
with a triple-double as the Nets came from 2-1 down to win the
best-of-seven series 4-2, setting up a second round clash with
the Miami Heat.

“We were under no illusion that this wasn’t going to be a
hard-fought series, that was going to go down to the wire,” New
Jersey coach Lawrence Frank told reporters.

“They’ve (the Pacers) dealt with more depletion of their
roster than any team the last two years.”

Kidd had eight points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and was
again the catalyst of the New Jersey attack, helping the Nets
out-rebound the Pacers 44-30.

Nenad Krstic added 17 points for the Nets, who had to
overcome an outstanding performance by Indiana’s Anthony
Johnson.

Johnson scored 40 points for the Pacers on 16-for-23
shooting and made several key baskets to keep Indiana close
when it looked like the Nets might pull away.

But the Pacers couldn’t generate enough offense from the
rest of their line-up to force a deciding game.

“It’s bittersweet,” Johnson told reporters. “I had it
going.”

INJURY WOES

Injuries were a problem for the Pacers throughout the
series. A sore knee kept Peja Stojakovic, the team’s second
leading scorer in the regular season, out of all but two games
in the series. Indiana won the only two games Stojakovic played
in.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle praised his team despite the
defeat, highlighting the distraction of Ron Artest’s trade
demands and other problems during the season.

“We’re disappointed that the season is over, but I’m going
to give the guys credit for the way they played the last three
weeks when things weren’t looking good,” Carlisle told
reporters.

“We fought hard, you have to give them credit for that.”

In Chicago, Shaquille O’Neal had 30 points and 20 rebounds
as the Miami Heat moved on to the second round with a
convincing 113-96 win over the Bulls.

Miami won the series 4-2.

Dwyane Wade added 23 points for the Heat despite playing
with a sore hip while James Posey added 18 points. Udonis
Haslem added 17 points and had 14 rebounds for Miami.

Kirk Hinrich led the Bulls with 23 points. Ben Gordon added
21 points and Andres Nocioni scored 20.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto)