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Nets wrap up Pacers to advance

Posted on: Thursday, 4 May 2006, 23:00 CDT

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)

Source: REUTERS

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