advantage of their own, after Leblanc was penalized for hol

CHICAGO -- Nene started thinking about how it would all unfold in the middle of the night. No way could he have scripted it any better than this. Nene dominated with 24 points, Trevor Ariza scored 18, and the Washington Wizards rallied from 13 down to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-93 in their playoff opener on Sunday night. John Wall scored 16 in his post-season debut. Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 13 rebounds, and the fifth-seeded Wizards pulled out the victory even though they looked like they were ready to be blown out. They cut a 13-point deficit to one in the third and trailed by three going into the fourth, before outscoring Chicago 18-6 over the final six minutes to come out on top in their first playoff appearance since 2008. "We had a team dinner, and after that, in the middle of the night I started thinking about what Im going to do," Nene said. "How Im going to defend. ... Things like that. Its a good feeling." Game 2 is Tuesday in Chicago. Nene was locked in from the opening tip, dunking on the games first possession and scoring eight points in the first six minutes, and the Wizards turned it on down the stretch. Gortats layup started the decisive run, and Ariza gave the Wizards an 88-87 lead when he hit a pair of free throws with 4:17 remaining. Jimmy Butler tied it for Chicago with one of his own, but a layup by Gortat and basket by Nene made it 92-88, and Washington hung on after Chicagos Joakim Noah cut it to two on a tip-in with 2:11 left. Gortat hit two free throws and added a jumper with 34 seconds left to make it a six-point game, and the Wizards took the early lead in the best-of-seven series. Washington shot 49 per cent and outrebounded Chicago 45-39 with Nene setting the tone inside. He hit 11 of 17 shots and grabbed eight rebounds. Andre Miller came on strong down the stretch, scoring eight of his 10 points in the fourth, and the Wizards pulled this one out even though Wall and Bradley Beal (13 points) combined to shoot just 7 of 25. Kirk Hinrich and D.J. Augustin each scored 16 points, and Butler had 15. But after posting more wins since Jan. 1 than any other Eastern Conference team, the Bulls find themselves in a hole. "There are a lot of things you can do to help your team win. Were capable of playing a lot better," coach Tom Thibodeau said. The Bulls led by 13 early in the third and were up 69-57 midway through the quarter when the Wizards went on a 13-2 run to make it a one-point game. Arizas 3-pointer cut it to 71-70 with 3:32 remaining. Noah answered with a layup and Taj Gibson hit two free throws to make it a five-point game, but a basket by Miller made it a three-point game going into the fourth. "Up 13, we exhaled and they came back," Noah said. "Bad turnovers. They got some easy scores. We got to make our adjustments. This is chess. It isnt checkers." The collapse was surprising given the resolve the Bulls showed all season. They could have easily packed it in after losing Derrick Rose to another season-ending knee injury and trading away Luol Deng. Instead, they dug in, and they were in good shape in this one before everything came apart. The Bulls overcame a 14-point first half by Nene and took a 54-48 lead to the locker room after a strong second quarter. Augustin drove for a three-point play with just over a minute left to finish the first-half scoring and start a 13-3 run that stretched into the third quarter and made it 64-51. "You have to stay in the moment," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "There will be times in the playoffs where we have to survive and stay in the game with six or seven straight possessions and not score. Both teams can do that. Who is going to stay in the fight when you do that? We did. We had a period where they outplayed us, no question about it. We had to get that back, and in the second half, I thought we did." NOTES: Wall on playing in the post-season: "Its very intense. Ive watched it going to a couple of games, but its a lot different when youre on the court. There was one segment when I couldnt really breathe when I was going up and down the court." ... Augustin hit just 3 of 15 shots but made all 10 free throws. Chicago was 20 of 26 at the foul line, while Washington was 26 of 35. Cheap NHL Jerseys .com) - Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 12 points in the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Cheap NHL Jerseys China . Ibrahimovic put PSG ahead when he got in front of his marker to neatly flick in Lucass cross in the 59th minute. New signing Yohan Cabaye came on as a second-half substitute and headed Ezequiel Lavezzis cross against the post in the 87th. Moments later, Lucas set up another goal from the right when fellow countryman Alex turned in his corner with a strikers finish. http://www.cheapchinanhljerseys.com/ . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs. NHL Jerseys From China . A fully booked flight forced me to leave two hours later. After a nice meal in which I studied the stats of the Argo win, I prepared to leave the restaurant. As I was gathering my things to leave many large individuals began to walk up and wait for tables. Wholesale NHL Jerseys China . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.HAMILTON, Ont. -- Louis Leblanc scored two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Rochester Americans 4-3 in American Hockey League action on Friday. Nick Tarnasky and Magnus Nygren also had goals for the Bulldogs (3-1-2), and Robert Mayer made 27 saves in the win. Luke Adam, Frederick Roy and Brayden McNabb scored for the Americans (3-2-1), while Nathan Lieuwen stopped 28 shots. Leblanc brought a back-and-forth game to a close at 1:26 in OT, when Drew Schiestel found him with a short pass along the red-line and Leblanc elevated a backhand effort past Lieuwen. The Hamilton forward now has five points in his past two games. Gabriel Dumont nearly opened the scoring for the Bulldogs three minutes into the first period, when a loose puck deflected to him, unguarded, in the low slot. But his quick wrist shot eluded Lieuwen only to ring off the near post. Tarnasky was luckier at 11:22 of the period, when he scored the games first goal late on a Bulldog power play. Erik Nystrom brought the puck into the zone and weaved past a defender, only to see the puck drift off of his stick and to Tarnasky, who was planted in front of Lieuwens net. The winger did the rest, quickly sweeping the puck off the far post and past the Rochester goaltender. The goalscorer produced another moment worthy of the highlight reel as Hamilton took to the power play again in the final five minutes of the period. Tarnasky carried the puck through the middle of the ice and beat split two defenders, before his backhandeed effort was saved by Lieuwen.dddddddddddd Hamilton doubled its lead at 2:10 of the second period, capitalizing on another Rochester penalty after Alexander Sulzer was whistled for tripping. Leblanc received a pass from Duffy behind the red-line, and curled all the way out to the top of the left circle before releasing a low wrist shot that beat Lieuwen through a screen. The Americans cut their deficit in half on a man advantage of their own, after Leblanc was penalized for holding at 6:42 of the second period. Rochesters power-play unit moved the puck around the top of the zone with a series of short passes, before Sulzer found Adam in the low slot with a cross-ice pass. The speed of the play left Mayer stranded out of position, and Adam had an empty net to tap the puck into at 7:14. The Bulldogs restored their two-goal advantage at 8:17 of the period, scoring their third power-play goal of the night when Nygren allowed traffic to form in front of Lieuwen and took a heavy slapshot that beat him high to the glove side. The Americans struck back just over two minutes later, when Colton Gillies shot from the blue-line bounced off the end boards to Roy, and the forward quickly slid a wrap-around past Mayer at 10:52 of the second. The comeback was completed with five seconds to play in the period, as McNabb gathered the puck after an initial effort was blocked, and beat Mayer through the five-hole with his second wrist shot. Hamilton went 3-7 on the power play Friday, after going 0-19 to begin the season. ' ' '