Bulls Eliminate Defending Champion Heat

Monday, April 30th 2007, 7:27 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ The Chicago Bulls have won a postseason series for the first time since the Michael Jordan era. They swept the defending NBA champion Miami Heat out of the playoffs in the first round, 92-79. Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng contributed 22 points and eleven rebounds. Chicago gets the Detroit Pistons in round two.

The Golden State Warriors are one victory away from becoming the first eighth-seed to beat a No. 1 seed in a seven-game NBA playoff series.

The Warriors stunned the Dallas Mavericks 102-99 to take a 3-1 lead in their opening round Western Conference series. The Mavericks won 25 more games in the regular season than the Warriors, who finished with a 42-40 regular-season mark.

Baron Davis led the Warriors with 33 points and eight rebounds. Jason Richardson added 22 for the Warriors, who are trying to become the third team in NBA history to knock off a No. 1 seed in the opening round. Only Denver in 1994 and the New York Knicks in 1999 did it, but that was in the old best-of-five format.

The Warriors used a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter to rally from a seven-point deficit. Jerry Stackhouse had 24 off the bench for Dallas.

The Mavericks, who made it to the NBA Finals last year, are now on the brink of elimination. They face a must-win game in Dallas Tuesday.

Two-time league MVP Steve Nash led Phoenix to a 113-100 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles, giving the Suns a commanding 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven NBA playoff series.

Nash scored 17 points and had 23 assists, one shy of the NBA playoff record shared by Magic Johnson and John Stockton. Teammate Amare Stoudemire contributed 27 points and a career playoff-high 21 rebounds.

The New Jersey Nets have taken a 3-games-to-1 lead over Toronto after routing the Raptors 102-81. Vince Carter scored 27 points, Richard Jefferson added 23 and the Nets posted their second most-lopsided win in a playoff game.