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Bulls Take 3-0 Series Lead Over Heat

Posted on: Saturday, 28 April 2007, 06:00 CDT

By TIM REYNOLDS

MIAMI - When it was over, the Chicago Bulls said all the right things. "We are not as superior as it appears," forward Andres Nocioni said. "It's only one win," added coach Scott Skiles. They were just being polite.

By now, the Bulls know that, barring the worst collapse in league history, they're about to end the Miami Heat's reign as NBA champions.

Ben Gordon scored 27 points, Luol Deng added 24 points and 11 rebounds and Chicago used a 15-2 fourth-quarter run to seize control of a 104-96 victory over the Heat in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night.

Chicago leads the series 3-0 - a cushion no team has ever wasted - and will go for the sweep in Miami on Sunday.

"This team is a team that could win four games in a row," Gordon said. "So it's not over."

Entering these playoffs, 78 teams had faced 0-3 deficits. The Heat need no one to tell them that all 78 have failed to come back and win series.

"Sunday, we've got to just come out and play," Miami center Shaquille O'Neal said. "Our backs are definitely against the wall, but we can't give up now. ... It can be done. We just have to believe it."

Making some free throws would help.

Dwyane Wade - who shed the black sleeve he was using to keep his left shoulder, the one he dislocated in February, warm - scored 28 points and O'Neal added 23 points and 13 rebounds for Miami. But Wade was 4-for-10 from the foul line, O'Neal 3-for-12, and the rest of the Heat weren't much better.

Miami finished 16-of-35 from the line - and those misses gave Chicago the opportunity to seize absolute command of the series.

"Maybe this year, the test is the ultimate, ultimate, ultimate test," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We have to look at it that way."

In other NBA playoff games on Friday, New Jersey beat Toronto 102-89 and Golden State defeated Dallas 109-91.

The Heat led by 12 points late in the third quarter, then trailed by nine points with 2:33 left and got within 99-96 on a jumper by Wade about a minute later, but no closer. Chicago outrebounded Miami by a wide margin (44-33) for the third straight game, plus made 29 of 37 free throws.

Kirk Hinrich added 22 points for Chicago.

"Nobody has came back from 3-0, and we don't want to be the team that it's done against," Deng said. "That has to be something we're focused on - to know this team can really pick up how they play."

Antoine Walker had 12 points and James Posey scored 10 for Miami, which was 11-1 at home in last year's playoffs.

Alonzo Mourning's hook shot early in the fourth quarter put Miami up 79-72, but from there, it was all Chicago. The Bulls haven't won a playoff series since Michael Jordan led them to the 1998 NBA title, but now, that drought seems like it's about to end.

"We know we have to win four instead of three," Skiles said. "But in a game where we weren't playing that well and things weren't going our way, we were able to overcome it."

The Heat pulled out their best stops from last year's postseason, including covering every seat with white fabric and encouraging fans to dress in that color; most adhered, although Terrell Owens wore black at his seat one row from the court. And the atmosphere was electric just before tipoff, just like it was back on Oct. 31, when Miami got its championship rings moments before the regular-season opener.

Chicago wasn't fazed that night, either, winning 108-66. This game was closer, but hurt the Heat considerably more - and now, they need a win Sunday just to avoid getting swept.

"It'll be a test of everyone and his will, everyone and his pride," Wade said. "We have to go out there and play with the heart of a champion."

Nets 102, Raptors 89

One day after missing practice because of a bruised left knee, Jason Kidd had a playoff career-high 19 assists, 16 points and 16 rebounds in his 10th postseason triple-double and Vince Carter scored 37 points as host New Jersey took a 2-1 lead in its Eastern Conference first-round series.

Kidd snapped a tie with Wilt Chamberlain and moved into one with Larry Bird for second on the career postseason triple-doubles list. He is 20 behind Magic Johnson, the career leader.

The Nets, who never trailed and led by as many as 21 points, host Game 4 on Sunday night.

T.J. Ford scored 27 points for the Raptors.

Warriors 109, Mavericks 91

In the Bay Area's first NBA playoff game since May 4, 1994, Jason Richardson had 30 points and eight rebounds and Baron Davis added 24 points as the Warriors took a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Before 20,629, the biggest crowd in franchise history, the eighth-seeded Warriors led throughout the final 44 minutes, taking an 18-point lead in the first half and going up by 22 in the third quarter.

Stephen Jackson scored 16 points and Monta Ellis had 14 for the Warriors, who beat the Mavs for the seventh time in their last eight meetings overall, including a three-game regular-season sweep.

Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which had the league's best record this season.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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