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Washington Wizards control Chicago Bulls, 98-89, to take 3-1 lead in NBA playoff series Washington Wizards control Chicago Bulls, 98-89, to take 3-1 lead in NBA playoff series
(about 4 hours later)
Faced with the glaring absence of Nene, the Washington Wizards unleashed their most passionate performance of the season Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center. Washington beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-89, to take commanding three-games-to-one lead in their best-of-seven, first-round NBA playoff series. When Trevor Ariza threw down a two-handed jam, and it was clear that the Washington Wizards were going to defeat the Chicago Bulls to take a commanding three-games-to-one lead in their best-of-seven, first-round series, pandemonium ensued at Verizon Center on Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, an Eastern Conference playoff basketball game had morphed into a combination of a rock concert and playful protest movement.
The Wizards were dealt a huge blow the day before when the NBA suspended Nene for one game after an altercation in Washington’s 100-97 loss in Friday night’s Game 3. Wizards owner Ted Leonsis showed up at Verizon Center for Sunday’s game wearing Nene’s No. 42 jersey and fired up fans showed their support with chants of “Free Nene.” With Nene suspended by the NBA for one game after an altercation two nights earlier, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis made sure the Brazilian big man’s presence was at least felt near the bench as he arrived at the arena wearing his No. 42 jersey. As the final seconds of a 98-89 victory began to tick off, Leonsis saw himself on the arena’s Jumbotron, raised his hands and pointed both thumbs to the name on the back of his jersey. Fans responded in kind, closing out the game by chanting, “Free Ne-ne! Free Ne-ne!”
As the final seconds ran off the clock, Leonsis saw himself on the arena’s jumbotron, raised his hands and pointed both thumbs to the name on the back of his jersey. Fans responded in kind, closing out the game by once again chanting the name of the absent Brazilian big man. “I thought it was pretty hilarious that Ted had Nene’s jersey,” Bradley Beal said. “It kind of threw me off for a minute.”
Trevor Ariza made sure the loss of Nene wouldn’t result in defeat as he scored a game-high 30 points and matched Gilbert Arenas’s franchise record for three-pointers in a game with six. Late in the game — after the Bulls had cut a 20-point deficit in half — the usually reserved Ariza let loose after he took a pass from Marcin Gortat and threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Wizards a 95-83 lead. Ariza screamed, shouted and pumped his arms all the way up the court. Being without their emotional, dread-locked forward didn’t throw off the Wizards one bit as they gave their most passionate performance of the postseason, scoring the first 14 points of the game and never looking back. Ariza scored a game-high 30 points and matched Gilbert Arenas’s franchise record for three-pointers in a game with six. After the Bulls had cut a 20-point deficit in half — the usually reserved Ariza let loose after he took a pass from Marcin Gortat and threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Wizards a 95-83 lead. Ariza screamed, shouted and pumped his arms all the way up the court.
Bradley Beal scored 18 points, Marcin Gortat had 17 and John Wall had 15 points and 10 assists to put the Wizards one win away from claiming their first playoff series win since 2005 — and only the third since the team made its last trip to the NBA Finals in 1979. Beal scored 18 points, Gortat had 17 and John Wall had 15 points and 10 assists to put the Wizards one win away from claiming their first playoff series win since 2005 — and only the third since the team made its last trip to the NBA Finals in 1979. They will have a chance to close out the Bulls in Game 5 on Tuesday at United Center.
After the Bulls successfully baited Nene into losing his composure in the fourth quarter of Game 3 — when he head-butted Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and wrapped his hands around his neck — Chicago center Joakim Noah walked down the hallway afterward and mocked his possible suspension by stating that it stunk for Wizards fans. Nene had dominated the Bulls in the first two games and without him in Game 4, Chicago liked its chances of returning for Tuesday’s game tied at 2. “It’s an old saying, ‘Once satisfied, all forward progress ceases.’ So, we don’t want to come in here satisfied with just three wins. We want to go in there and go for the jugular,” backup Drew Gooden said
The Wizards remained confident in their ability to win Game 4 without him. They discovered a formula for winning without Nene when he missed 22 games because of a left knee injury late in the season. And Sunday, they used the emotion of his absence to score the first 14 points of the game and never looked back. The Bulls successfully baited Nene into losing his composure in the fourth quarter of Game 3, when he head-butted Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and wrapped his hands around his neck leading to an automatic ejection. Nene had dominated the Bulls in the first two games at United Center, winning his head-to-head matchup with NBA defensive player of the year Joakim Noah.
Entering the game, the Wizards’ best lineup against the Bulls actually featured Trevor Booker, and not Nene, with the other four starters. That group had shared the floor for just 13 minutes in the first three games, but outscored Chicago 38-19 in that span. Chicago liked its chances of returning for Tuesday's game tied at two games. After Friday’s game, Noah walked down the hallway and mocked Nene’s possible suspension by jokingly stating that it stunk for Wizards fans.
The first four minutes of Game 4 showed that success was no fluke. Ariza hit a three-pointer to give the Wizards a 7-0 lead and Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau called a 20-second timeout. It did nothing to help the Bulls make shots, as the Wizards continued to apply defensive pressure and forced Thibodeau into calling another timeout after Ariza hit his second three-pointer of the game. Ariza’s third three-pointer pushed the lead to 15 and the celebration had already begun among the red towel-waving fans. The Wizards, however, were confident they could send Noah back to Chicago on the brink of elimination. With Trevor Booker filling in as the starter, the Wizards had gone 13-9 late in the season when Nene sat out with a sprained left knee, meeting Leonsis’s comments that the team had “no excuses” on its quest toward the first playoff appearance since 2008.
Taj Gibson helped the Bulls avoid getting completely obliterated by playing a flawless first half, scrapping for offensive rebounds, drawing fouls and attacking the rim for dunks and layups. He made all eight of his shots and accounted for half of the Bulls’ 40 points in the first half, helping them hang around a game that would’ve otherwise been a blowout. “I think it was more a blessing in disguise, maybe,” Coach Randy Wittman said of Nene’s absence. “Our guys played well while we was gone and got us into a position to get into the playoffs. It was more, ‘You know what? We know what to do.’ We’ve put ourselves in position to do something but we have yet to do anything.”
After a Bulls tip-in and dunk to close within 52-40, Ariza sent the crowd into a tizzy when he hit a three-pointer from the right corner as time expired in the first half. Mike Dunleavy, who scored a playoff-career-high 35 points in Chicago’s Game 3 win, was held to six points and injured his left thumb in the fourth quarter. Dunleavy said he jammed the thumb on his non-shooting hand and was getting an X-ray, but that he planned to play in Game 5.
Gibson scored a game-high 32 points but the Wizards were successful in limiting Mike Dunleavy to just six points after he scored a playoff career-high 35 in Game 3. The first four minutes of Game 4 showed success with no Nene was no fluke. Ariza hit a three-pointer to give the Wizards a 7-0 lead and Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau called a 20-second timeout. It did nothing to help the Bulls make shots, as the Wizards continued to apply defensive pressure and forced Thibodeau into calling another timeout after Ariza hit his second three-pointer of the game. Ariza’s third three-pointer pushed the lead to 15 and the celebration had already begun among the red towel-waving fans.
Booker had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots starting in place of Nene. Taj Gibson (32 points) helped the Bulls avoid getting completely obliterated by playing a flawless first half, scrapping for offensive rebounds, drawing fouls and attacking the rim for dunks and layups. He made all eight of his shots and accounted for half of the Bulls’ 40 points in the first half, helping them hang around a game that would’ve otherwise been a blowout.
After a Bulls tip-in and dunk to close within 52-40, Ariza sent the crowd at halftime into a tizzy when Beal drove into the lane and found the wiry swingman in the right corner, where he hit his fifth three-pointer as time expired.
“I got a lot of open looks, normally those touches go to Nene early in the game, but we needed somebody to step up. I think we’re a smart enough group to understand that when one of your pieces go down, you have to find ways and will to win,” Ariza said. “We were locked in early. We were pretty disappointed in the way we lost Game 3. With that being said, we had come out here and take care of business and that’s what we did.”
The series remained physical and heated, but the Wizards learned from Nene’s mental lapse and resisted losing their composure. Bulls forward Carlos Boozer collected a flagrant foul when he chopped down on Gortat late in the third period. Gortat approached Boozer but quickly backed off and quietly went to the free throw line. Booker collected a technical foul while jawing with Gibson but saved his most callous words while sitting several feet away from his counterpart on the bench.
“Just a little trash talk. I’m not out there to make friends, so we got into it a little bit,” Booker said after finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.