• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Gordon, Hinrich too much for Shaq-less Heat

Jan 28, 2007 - 6:32 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat have seen enough of the Ben Gordon and the Chicago Bulls.

Gordon scored 34 points, including a go-ahead jumper late in the fourth quarter, as the Bulls posted a 100-97 victory for their third straight win this season over the Heat, who played without star center Shaquille O'Neal.

Kirk Hinrich added 26 points, including five in the final 69 seconds, for Chicago, which has won three straight and eight of 10 overall.

After playing two games since missing 35 contests due to knee surgery, O'Neal did not play in this contest, the second of back-to-backs.

The Bulls held Wade in check. The superstar guard scored 24 points but shot just 8-of-24 from the floor. He was scoreless in the first quarter but scored eight points in the final period.

"We did a pretty good job defending him, I think we are one of the teams that guard him the best in the league," Gordon said. "Kirk did a great job on Dwyane. When he got beat and that wasn't often, other guys closed in and helped out."

The 2006 Finals MVP and suburban Chicago native entered averaging just 16.8 points vs. Chicago all-time - his lowest average against any team, including just 11.9 points at the United Center.

"We did a good job on him but then you look at his final line and it's 24 points and eight rebounds and eight assists," Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. "Somehow he still managed to make some unbelievable plays with our guys all over him."

Gordon, who torched the Heat for 40 points in a 109-103 victory on December 27, shot 11-of-17 from the floor and added six rebounds and seven assists. He scored just six points in the teams' first meeting but was not needed in the 108-66 mauling, the largest opening night loss for a defending champion in league history.

"We have had some success against Miami this year," Gordon said. "Tonight my teammates got me the ball and I was in a groove."

This victory may have been tempered when center Ben Wallace was forced to leave with a knee injury with five minutes left.

"Ben was in a lot of pain but the doctors think the knee is structurally sound," Skiles said. "It's slightly hyperextended, we will know more tomorrow."

Gordon scored 12 points as the Bulls jumped to a 17-point first-quarter lead, but Miami used an 18-4 run bridging the second and third periods to pull within 54-50.

"We had a lousy start but our bench guys came through for us," Miami interim coach Ron Rothstein said. "Our guys showed some real determination and effort considering this is our 14th game in 25 nights. We are getting better efforts all the time."

But Gordon scored nine points over a five-minute span as Chicago rebuilt the lead to 67-59 midway through the period.

"When we were able to get stops on them, we did a good job of running the ball up the court and finding the open shooter," Hinrich said.

Led by Wade, Miami mounted a final-period comeback and drew even at 89-89 on a runner by Antoine Walker with 2:12 remaining. But Gordon answered right back, hitting a pull-up jumper over James Posey with 1:58 left.

After Posey badly missed a 3-pointer, P.J. Brown sank two free throws for a four-point bulge.

Hinrich, who made 10-of-21 shots, hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and added three free throws to seal it.