NBA Game Summary - Washington at Chicago

Chicago, IL (Basketball News) - Ben Gordon poured in 30 points in his first- ever playoff game as the Chicago Bulls used a huge fourth quarter and fought off the Washington Wizards, 103-94, to take the opening game in this best-of- seven Eastern Conference first-round series at the United Center.

Gordon shot 11-of-19 from the field while Andres Nocioni added career highs with 25 points and 18 rebounds for the Bulls, who outscored Washington 26-12 in the final 12 minutes to register the victory. This is the first playoff win for Chicago since June 14, 1998, when a Michael Jordan-led squad beat the Utah Jazz to capture the championship.

Game Two of the series is set for Wednesday night.

Larry Hughes led the Wizards with 31 points, but had just seven after the intermission and was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Gilbert Arenas missed 16 of his 19 shots from the field and finished with nine points — all of which came in the third quarter. The Wizards missed 20 of their 26 shots in the fourth quarter.

With the Bulls up 87-86 with just over seven minutes left in the game, Gordon missed a three-pointer but Hughes was whistled for his fourth foul of the game on the play. The former Connecticut star hit his all three of his free- throw attempts to give Chicago a 90-86 advantage.

The Bulls maintained the four-point edge, but a Brendan Haywood dunk with 3:20 left cut the Washington deficit to two points. However, it was the last points of the game for Washington. After a Hinrich miss, Hughes missed a three- pointer that would have given the Wizards the lead.

Nocioni nailed a three-pointer at the other end to put Chicago up 99-94 with 2:20 left.

After Gordon air-balled a jumper with 1:15 left, Tyson Chandler rebounded it and fed Antonio Davis, who hit an off-balance shot to push the Bulls’ lead to seven points. Despite four missed free throws for the Bulls down the stretch, the Wizards were unable to capitalize en route to the nine-point final margin.

The Bulls led 53-52 at the intermission, thanks in large part to Gordon, who looked like a veteran as he scored 18 points in the opening 24 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting. Chicago had 16 first-half assists compared to just four turnovers. Othella Harrington, who started in place of the injured Eddy Curry, had 10 points in the opening half.

Meanwhile, the Wizards’ starting backcourt had an up-and-down first half. Washington’s leading scorer, Arenas, missed all six of his shots from the field and was scoreless. But the other starter, Hughes, dominated the first 24 minutes.

Hughes made 10-of-12 shots from the field and finished the first half with 24 points. After scoring 10 first-quarter points, Hughes made all six of his shots in the second quarter.

The Wizards led 30-25 with 10:26 remaining in the first half, but Gordon took over. The rookie nailed four jumpers — including a pair of three-pointers — during a 14-6 run that put the Bulls up 39-36.

With Gordon beginning the second half on the bench, the Bulls coughed up the lead in the opening six minutes of the third quarter. Washington scored 10 straight points at one point and went ahead 67-60 with 7:20 left in the period on an Arenas three-pointer.

But the Bulls answered with an 11-2 run, capped by a Kirk Hinrich layup, to pull ahead 71-69 with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

Arenas had four points during a 13-4 run in the late going of the third quarter that put Washington back in front, 82-75. A late Chris Duhon field goal sliced the Bulls’ deficit to five points heading into the final 12 minutes.