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Wizards nip Bulls 112-110 on buzzer beater
CHICAGO - Gilbert Arenas foiled a remarkable comeback by the Chicago Bulls and pushed the Washington Wizards within one victory of the second round of the playoffs. Arenas hit a 14-foot jumper at the buzzer Wednesday night, sending Washington to a dramatic 112-110 victory and a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 is Friday at the MCI Center. Chicago's Jannero Pargo hit a 3-pointer, his third of the fourth quarter, to tie the game with 5.2 seconds remaining as the Bulls fought back from a 22-point, second-half deficit.
Larry Hughes scored a career playoff-high 33 points for the Wizards, who had a 10-point lead with 41 seconds to go. The Wizards have beaten the Bulls 10 straight times on their home floor, and another victory would make Washington just the ninth team to come back from a 0-2 deficit in a seven-game series. The last time Washington won a playoff series was in 1982, when it defeated New Jersey 2-0. A pair of 3-pointers by Pargo and another by Hinrich with 11.6 seconds left cut the lead to 109-107. Hughes then sank the second of two free throws with 11.4 seconds to go — 14 seconds after Antawn Jamison had missed a pair from the line — to put Washington up by three and set the stage for a wild finish at the roaring United Center. The Wizards then fouled Hinrich before he could get off a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds left. Hinrich missed both, but after the second one bounded back to the line, he scrambled for the ball and somehow flipped it to Pargo, who hit a 3-pointer from the left side to tie it. But Arenas who finished with 16 points on just 5-for-14 shooting, put an end to the celebration with his smooth shot over Hinrich. Jamison, dodging foul trouble, scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds. And Washington got a big lift from Brendan Haywood, who scored 17 after averaging six points in the first four games. Ben Gordon scored 27, Hinrich 23 and Tyson Chandler 22 with 10 rebounds for the Bulls, making their first playoff appearance since Michael Jordan won the last of his six titles. Pargo scored nine of his 10 points in the final quarter. Washington went up by 84-62 in the third quarter and it appeared the Bulls didn't have enough energy this time to catch up. But they did. Gordon, shaking off a 1-for-13 performance in Game 4, hit a driving floater at the third-quarter buzzer to get the Bulls to within 86-73. Chicago whittled it back to 10 when Gordon hit a 3-pointer and two free throws with just under nine minutes remaining. Gordon sailed through the lane for a layup to make it 94-85 with 7:17 remaining and then hit a banker. After an offensive foul on Hughes, Chandler took a pass from Hinrich and slammed it through, converting a three-point play that cut it to 96-90 with 5:12 to go. Washington led by 14 at the half and then scored three easy baskets to start the second for a 20-point lead. Chris Duhon, who played sparingly in Game 4 because of back spasms, then hit two straight 3-pointers and the Bulls eventually cut the lead to 12. Hughes scored 18 first-half points on 6-for-11 shooting, pulling up for open jumpers at will against Chicago's sluggish defense as the Wizards took a 63-49 halftime lead. Washington made 14 of its 19 first-quarter shots (74 percent) — Hughes was 5-for-6 with 13 points as the Wizards went up by 11. It marked the fourth straight game the Wizards broke out to a sizable lead, including a 17-3 run to start Game 4.
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