Heat survive Bulls’ rally, head to Chicago with 2-0 lead
MIAMI (AP) – Dwyane Wade hit a spinning jumper in the lane with 1:04 left to halt a frantic Chicago rally, and blocked Ben Gordon’s layup with 26 seconds left to ensure that Miami would beat the Bulls 115-108 on Monday night and take a 2-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series. Jason Williams and Shaquille O’Neal each had 22 points for Miami, which saw what was a 20-point third-quarter lead cut to four with 1:15 remaining. But Wade added 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals for the Heat, who tied a franchise playoff record with six players in double figures.
Antoine Walker – who played the first 40:20 without a rest, filling in for the suspended Udonis Haslem – added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who also got 12 points from James Posey and 11 from Gary Payton.
Andres Nocioni led all scorers with 30 points – on 13-for-15 shooting – for Chicago. Kirk Hinrich had 17 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls.