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Bulls trample injury-riddled Wizards

Apr 15, 2007 - 9:20 PM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards are teams headed to the playoffs in opposite directions. Ben Gordon and Luol Deng helped the Bulls show from the outset that they are on the way up.

Gordon scored 30 points and Deng added 16 as the Bulls continued their march toward the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 101-68 victory over the injury-riddled Wizards.

The Bulls (49-32) wasted no time taking control of this one, racing out to a 28-14 lead after the first quarter and a 49-27 bulge at the half.

"We were very sharp again. The guys were in tune with the game plan and we had good ball movement," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "We were ready to play. It is important to show that we can be ready for and play this kind of game."

Gordon and Deng each scored 12 points in the first half for the Bulls, who are 20-7 since the All-Star break.

Chicago continued to roll in the second half and led by as many as 35. A dunk by rookie Tyrus Thomas gave the Bulls an 89-54 lead with 7:52 to play.

"Things today did not go our way, mostly because the Chicago Bulls are a good team," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "We just didn't make the shots we needed to make."

The win was an important one for Chicago, which entered the game tied with Cleveland for the second spot in the East. The Bulls own the tiebreaker because they have a better division record and can clinch the spot with a win over New Jersey on Wednesday.

DeShawn Stevenson scored 13 points for Washington (40-40), which has lost seven of its last eight. But the Wizards have played without injured All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

The Wizards were also without Arenas' replacement in the starting lineup, Antonio Daniels, who missed the game with a bruised back.

"We knew that they had some guys down, so we wanted to come in and take advantage of that early and not make it a close game," Gordon said. "They were on their home floor and we did not want to give them any confidence."