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Shaquille O'Neal showed up to show the Chicago Bulls the door.
O'Neal turned back the clock when he used to dominate on a nightly basis as the Miami Heat coasted into the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 113-96 victory over the Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series. A three-time NBA Finals MVP, the 7-1, 325-pound O'Neal finished with 30 points and 20 rebounds in his best game of the series for the second-seeded Heat.
"When I was in the game my guys were looking for me," O'Neal said. "I was getting the ball in the right spots, then I was able to get my shots and hit them."
Unlike Games 3 and 4 here when he battled foul trouble and combined for just 24 points and 12 rebounds, O'Neal had no trouble staying on the court Wednesday. The Bulls had no answers and were eliminated in the first round for a second straight year.
"If I'm on the court and I'm active that's how it's going to be most of the time," O'Neal said. "Games 2, 3, 4 and 5, I was in foul trouble. Tonight I wasn't in foul trouble so I could do what I do."
O'Neal toyed with the combination of Tyson Chandler and Mike Sweetney and made 13-of-24 shots in 38 minutes.
With O'Neal leading the way, the Heat - who lost both Games 3 and 4 - were in control from the outset. They never trailed and built a double-digit lead in the first quarter before settling for a 55-41 cushion at the half.
"I think we started the game extremely well," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We weren't turning it over and we were scoring. They were missing a lot of shots. We came out and established ourselves, while they seemed a little bit tight in the beginning."
O'Neal had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Dwyane Wade scored 11 points in the first half, when the Heat shot 56 percent (20-of-36). Chicago shot a woeful 32 percent (12-of-38) in the first half and never were able to recover.
"The last two games we left the page of what we like to do," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "We hard a hard time reeling it back in, tonight I think they played their best game of the series."
Wade had little trouble with the bruised hip he suffered in Game 5 as he scored 23 points before fouling out and Udonis Haslem had 17 and 14 rebounds for Miami, which will meet third-seeded New Jersey in the conference semifinals. New Jersey won three of the four meetings between the teams during the regular season.
"Our coaches will have a great game plan put together," Wade said. "No matter where the games in the next series are played, at home or on the road they will be great games."
The Heat were in control the entire second half, although the Bulls got as close as 97-88 with 4:57 remaining on Ben Gordon's three-point play. But Haslem scored five straight points and James Posey had a steal and layup to help the Heat put away the game.
"At that point I hit the boards and got some offensive rebounds," Haslem said. "I was struggling early with my offense. In the second half I just tried to be much more aggressive."
Posey made five 3-pointers and scored 18 points for Miami, which had been 0-9 all-time at Chicago in the postseason.
"There was a lot of pressure on us this series," Riley said. "From what I hear not many people wanted us to win."
Kirk Hinrich scored 23 points, Gordon 21 and Andres Nocioni 20 for the Bulls, who shot 41 percent (31-of-75) and were outrebounded, 51-34.
"It's very disappointing not to advance," Hinrich said. "We had this series tied at 2-2, then for the most part we just had a couple of really rough games where we didn't play like ourselves."
"Some nights you make shots and some nights you don't," Gordon said. "Unfortunately the last two losses our backcourt had trouble making shots."
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - An uncharacteristic lapse on defense nearly cost the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter.
Tim Duncan had 22 points and 19 rebounds, Tony Parker scored 23 and San Antonio held off the Sacramento Kings 96-93 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Parker and Duncan frustrated the Kings' defense, helping the Spurs win for the seventh time in eight games and improve to 9-2, the best record in the Western Conference.
But the Kings gave San Antonio a scare thanks to Mike Bibby's shooting in the fourth. Trailing by 17 early in the quarter, Sacramento finally got going when Bibby scored 14 of his season-high 33 points in the period.
His 3-pointer cut the lead to 96-93 with 27.6 seconds left, but he could not connect on a desperation 3 in a crowd that would have tied the game with 1 second left.
"He almost single-handedly finished us off," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Manu Ginobili scored 12 points for the Spurs and Rasho Nesterovic had 10 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Sacramento, which lost its second straight and is a subpar 3-3 at home, outscored San Antonio 35-23 in the fourth.
"We stopped playing defense and we stopped moving the ball offensively in the fourth quarter," Ginobili said. "Bibby had a chance to hit that last chance. With those last-second shots anything can happen."
Coming off a two-point loss Sunday night in Seattle, the Kings were without leading scorer Peja Stojakovic, who sat out with a sprained finger. Bonzi Wells had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Francisco Garcia scored 12 and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 11.
"It was a tough loss. It took us forever to seem to get any rhythm at all," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We had our shot, but we couldn't get over the hump."
Parker continually knifed through Sacramento's defense, scoring 10 points in the third period when San Antonio built the lead to 73-58 heading into the final quarter.
Although Parker couldn't stop Bibby in the fourth, he had the advantage through most of the game in the point guard matchup.
Parker consistently made his outside shots and finished 9-of-16 from the field.
"He's not Larry Bird yet with his outside shot, but his mid-range jumper has been more consistent this year," Popovich said. "He has worked hard on his shot."
The efficiency of Duncan and Parker was on display in the first half when San Antonio took a 49-39 lead. Working effectively inside and on the perimeter, Duncan shot 7-of-9 for 14 points. Parker was able to penetrate frequently, scoring 13.
"Sometimes after a back-to-back we'll come out a little slow," Sacramento's Brad Miller said. "They just really jumped on us early. They were getting a lot of easy shots and making them."
Game notes
San Antonio's Robert Horry played just the final 3:16 and grabbed two key rebounds. ... Garcia made his first NBA start, replacing Stojakovic. ... After missing six straight games with lower back spasms, Brent Barry played in a reserve role and was scoreless in eight minutes. ... Miller had zero points and Abdur-Rahim had two in the first half. Miller finished with a season-low two points.
We all knew the Bulls were playing over their heads last season. And coming into this season we all knew they were going to regress to a mean ol' mean and be a long shot to sneak back into the playoffs. But after watching them through the the first four games, I'm thinking maybe we want to think again.
The 2004-'05 Bulls won games with Kirk Hinrich's steady hand and feel for distribution, some emerging offensive talent (see Ben Gordon and Luol Deng), and some fierce, energetic, defense (see their second-best-in-basketball defensive efficiency score of 97.4 points per 100 possessions).
The hardest thing to maintain after a young club has some unexpected success is intensity from year to year. A team comes out flat in November and ends up scrambling (see last year's pre-Karl Nuggets), or worse (see last year's Timberwolves, minus Eveready Garnett), the rest of the way. But the 2005-'06 Bulls seem just as wired as they were most of last year, and seem much more inclined to sustain than regress.
They're just 2-2 after Wednesday night's 85-84 win over Golden State, but both those losses were close and to good teams, one in overtime to San Antonio and another on a buzzer-beater at New Jersey. They're getting even more cool judgment and production out of Hinrich than they did last year. Gordon's still hitting big shots. Deng looks healthy and slippery around the bucket and the boards.
Tyson Chandler continues his always-jumping-always-around-the-ball maturation into what the Great Hubie would rightfully call "one of the premier rebounders in this league." And they've replaced Eddy Curry with Mike Sweetney, whose soft hands and formidable caboose are a strangely unstoppable combination for about 20 minutes a night. And they move the ball as a team, quickly and crisply.
But none of this is what you notice first. What you notice first is the shuffling feet. All over the floor. On Monday night as the clock wound down in a tie game against San Antonio, Manu Ginobili went around the outside and looked to snake his way in for an up-and-under.
It looked like ballgame as it unfolded, but all of a sudden, there was Chandler, busting his behind to the baseline, closing what little window there had been. It wasn't enough to win the game in the end, but it was enough to impress. And the story was the same on Wednesday against the Warriors.
The Bulls were down 10 at the half, but they turned the second half into a horror chamber for Golden State shooters, contesting every attempt, picking up at halfcourt or deeper on every possession, doubling down, extending all amoeba-like on the perimeter, and leaving them to ponder a 24 percent (12-for-49) second 24.
It wasn't a pretty game, no game with that much clanging could be, but it wasn't ugly, either. The Bulls don't play slow-down, Anthony-Mason-laying-wood-to-your-back D; they don't muscle and grab. They move. They hustle. They work it. There's something entertaining about it, something that makes you want to see more.
And as Chandler stepped in to help on Jason Richardson as the clock wound down Wednesday night, helping preserve a one-point win, that was the lasting impression: We're going to see more of this club.
When the circus comes to town, the Chicago Bulls hit the road.
And almost always lose.
Not Sunday night.
Chris Duhon scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers 96-93 despite 43 points by Kobe Bryant, matching an NBA single-game high this season.
The Bulls won their first game after three losses on their annual Western swing while the circus is at the United Center.
Chicago had been 1-41 on this yearly trip that began in 1999.
"Two now," Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said with a grin. "Everybody's aware of it because every time we leave, it's in the paper."
Said Chicago's Tyson Chandler: "When the circus is in town, we're the circus on the road. It's about time we got a win."
The Bulls won by outscoring the Lakers 11-1 after Smush Parker's 3-pointer with 4:03 remaining gave Los Angeles a 92-85 lead.
Michael Sweetney, who had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots, made a free throw with 24.8 seconds remaining to break a 93-93 tie, and Bryant missed badly from close range about 10 seconds later.
Duhon was fouled and made two free throws with 11 seconds left to complete the scoring. Bryant and Lamar Odom each missed 3-pointers before time expired.
Bryant, who shot 17-of-34, didn't score after his basket with 7:25 to play put the Lakers on top 84-77. Washington's Gilbert Arenas also scored 43 points in a game against San Antonio on Nov. 12.
"I really don't want to shoot the ball that many times," said Bryant, who has taken 105 shots in the last three games. "It's important for other people to step up and make significant contributions at the offensive end."
Los Angeles played without starting forward Kwame Brown, expected to be sidelined up to two weeks because if a strained right hamstring. Forwards Slava Medvedenko and Luke Walton are sidelined with injuries as well, leaving the Lakers very thin up front.
Hinrich had 16 points and eight assists for the Bulls. Duhon also had eight assists. Chandler had 15 rebounds to lead Chicago to a 48-38 advantage in that department.
"Without Kwame, we area a lot smaller," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "The way they pounded the boards, those two kids (Chandler and Sweetney), we really should take a lesson from that. The shooting is going to come and go, the uncontested rebounds, that's what bothered me."
Chris Mihm added 13 points for the Lakers, who have lost five of their last six games. Odom, averaging 14.8 points, was held to six. He was limited to 29 minutes by foul problems but did have 10 rebounds and five assists.
Lakers rookie Andrew Bynum scored his first NBA points on a dunk with 9:38 left, and added two free throws 29 seconds later to give the Lakers a 76-74 lead -- their first since the opening period.
After a 3-pointer by Duhon, the Lakers outscored the Bulls 11-2 for an 87-79 lead. Sasha Vujacic made two 3-pointers and Bryant scored the other five points during the run.
It was 92-85 when Hinrich and Duhon each made 3-pointers and Andres Nocioni added a layup, giving the Bulls a 93-92 lead. A free throw by Odom with 1:25 to play tied the game at 93.
Bynum then had an opportunity to give the Lakers the lead, but his shot was blocked by Chandler.
"That was just my own stupidity," Bynum said. "I had a bunch of moves I should have made, but I just tried to go up real quick. I should have either gone up with a left-handed hook or a pump-fake there and took a dribble. But I just tried to rush it up and it got blocked."
Bryant scored eight straight Los Angeles points to give him 35 before he came out of the game for the only time with 4:10 left in the third period and the Lakers trailing 67-65. He sat out nearly 2 minutes, returning with the game tied.
The Bulls led 74-71 entering the final period. ^Notes:@ Laron Profit, acquired with Brown from Washington during the offseason, made his first start for the Lakers. He had two points in 18 minutes. ... Brown said he heard something pop in his leg when he tried to steal the ball from Clippers guard Sam Cassell on Friday night. Brown said he hopes to return in less than two weeks. ... The Bulls had lost seven of their last eight games to the Lakers in Los Angeles. ... Walton, who hasn't played this season because of an injuries to his left hamstring and right hip, plans to practice Tuesday and hopes to return Thursday night against Seattle. ... Bryant, Odom and Chandler all picked up technical fouls in the third period.
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