• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Wizards drop Bulls in OT to take 2-0 series lead

Apr 23, 2014 - 6:23 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Wizards' young backcourt of Bradley Beal and John Wall have arrived.

Beal had 26 points and seven rebounds, Wall added 16 points, seven assists and five boards and the Washington Wizards rallied for a 101-99 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

Washington overcame a 13-point deficit in Game 1 and a 10-point fourth-quarter bulge to force an extra session Tuesday.

With the Bulls down two, Kirk Hinrich drove in for a layup and drew a foul on Nene with 2.4 seconds left in overtime. Hinrich, though, missed the first free throw. He intentionally clanked the second freebie off the front of the rim, but Trevor Ariza came down with the rebound to seal the outcome.

Nene tallied 17 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Wizards, who took their first 2-0 advantage in an NBA playoff series since 1982 when they swept the New Jersey Nets in the then best-of-three first round.

They had never gone on the road to win their first two games of a series.

D.J. Augustin netted 25 points off the bench, Taj Gibson provided 22 points and 10 rebounds and Joakim Noah supplied 20 points and 12 boards for Chicago.

Game 3 is Friday night in Washington.

"I think we did a great job of staying calm and composed," Wall said. "We are excited to head back to DC and play our first playoff game in front of our fans, who deserve this."

After Jimmy Butler sunk two free throws to stake Chicago to an 87-77 cushion with 6:59 to play in regulation, the Wizards closed the frame on a 14-4 run.

A Hinrich jumper gave the Bulls a 91-85 advantage with 3:53 left, but they did not score a point for the next 7:38 of game action.

Beal netted the final six points of regulation for Washington. After he knocked down a triple, he forced a steal and then got his high-arching floater to fall with 1:24 remaining to cut the gap to a point.

Hinrich was off the mark on a 3-pointer at the other end and Beal knotted the game when he split a pair of foul shots with 52.9 ticks on the clock.

Gibson came down with two offensive rebounds on Chicago's final possession of regulation, but Hinrich and Augustin both misfired on their attempts. Nene then won a jump ball against Gibson and Washington called timeout. Beal, though, came up short on a right baseline fadeaway at the horn.

"In the playoffs, you've got to play for 48 minutes," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Nene scored the first six points of overtime and Washington never looked back.

Hinrich sunk two free throws to finally end the point drought and pull Chicago within 97-93 with 1:15 left. Noah converted a layup with 39 ticks remaining to trim the deficit to 101-97, and Chicago got the ball right back when Wall was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing inbound.

Noah drew a foul and sunk two foul shots to make it 101-99.

Earlier, Beal put in 10 quick points as the Wizards raced out to a 29-12 advantage before settling for a 31-20 lead following a quarter of play. They led 56-49 at the break.

The Bulls used a 12-3 third-quarter run to take their first lead of the game. Augustin's bank shot with 4:27 left in the frame gave Chicago a 67-65 edge before Mike Dunleavy capped the burst with a layup for a 69-65 lead.

Chicago took a 75-70 spread into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Wizards shot 47.5 percent (38-of-80) from the field and 39.1 percent (9- of-23) from beyond the arc ... Beal was 9-of-20 from the floor ... The Bulls held a 44-22 points in the paint edge.