NBA Game Summary - Chicago at Washington

Washington, DC (Basketball News) - Gilbert Arenas scored 32 points with seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the Washington Wizards past the Chicago Bulls, 117-99, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal matchup.

Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison each added 21 points for Washington, which picked up its first playoff win since May 4, 1988, and will try to even the best-of-seven series on Monday in Game 4 at the MCI Center.

The Wizards, who dropped the first two games of this set in Chicago, played host to their first playoff game since April 30, 1997, when the team, then known as the Bullets, lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Tyson Chandler had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, which has dropped nine straight games in the nation’s capital dating back to April 11, 2001.

History, though, remains on the Bulls’ side, as they have never lost a playoff series when winning the first two games and have won 12 consecutive playoff sets.

Washington, meanwhile, has lost seven straight postseason series and has not won a playoff series since 1982.

Leading by just two at intermission, the Wizards seized control of the contest late in the third quarter, as they closed the stanza with a 16-6 run to carry a 90-77 advantage into the final 12 minutes.

Chicago never threatened in the fourth, as it failed to get the deficit under double digits with Washington pushing its lead to as many as 20 on its way to the 18-point win.

After getting outscored 73-47 through the first two games, Washington’s bench received a boost, as Etan Thomas netted 20 points and Michael Ruffin chipped in a season-high nine points in a reserve role. The Bulls’ bench, led by Chandler, still outscored Washington’s, 37-31.

Trailing by one, the Wizards used a 10-2 run to take a seven-point edge, 21-14 with a little over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Washington held the lead for the remainder of the period and carried a 31-23 advantage into the second.

The Wizards, who have led after the first quarter in all three games, continued to control the tempo in the early stages of the second period and scored the first four points of the stanza to push their lead to 12.

Chicago, though, responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points and pulled to within five on Kirk Hinrich’s jumper with a little over eight minutes remaining in the half. Then, down by five, the Bulls went on a 12-3 run to even the game at 49-49 and eventually grabbed their first lead since early in the first quarter, 53-51, on a pair of Adrian Griffin free throws with 1:34 left in the half.

The teams then traded the lead back-and-forth before Arenas’ free throws allowed the Wizards to take a 57-55 edge into the locker room.