Bulls send Heat on ready-or-not summer vacation

MIAMI – Michael Jordan’s old Chicago jersey hangs over the Miami Heat’s home floor, a tribute to the six-time NBA champion.

Now, a new bunch of Bulls want a title of their own after ending the Heat’s reign atop the league with a four-game sweep.

Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng had 22 to lead Chicago past Miami 92-79 Sunday in Game 4 to clinch the first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bulls advanced in the postseason for the first time since Jordan’s last title in 1998.

Chicago, which meets Detroit next, became the first team to oust a defending champion in the first round since Phoenix did it to San Antonio in 2000.

The coach of that Suns team that beat San Antonio seven years ago? Scott Skiles, who coaches the Bulls now and who put together a plan that befuddled Miami all series long.

“It’s an accomplishment,” Skiles said. “We’re in a funny position here. We want to enjoy it. It was great. We played well. We played hard all four games. We deserved to win — but we want to keep playing.”

“We ran into more than a formidable opponent,” Heat coach Pat Riley said. “They are a great team. … They deserved to win. There’s no doubt in my mind. They can go a long way.”

Dwyane Wade scored 24 points for Miami on 8-for-22 shooting, and added 10 assists. Shaquille O’Neal had 16 points, Alonzo Mourning scored 14 and James Posey had 18 rebounds.

Warriors 103, Mavericks 99: At Oakland, Calif., Baron Davis had five of his 33 points and two key assists in the final 3 1/2 minutes, and Golden State roared from behind to take a 3-1 lead over the NBA’s best team in their first-round playoff series.

Jason Richardson scored 22 points for the Warriors, who could become just the third team in league history to knock off a No. 1 seed in the opening round.

Only the Denver Nuggets (1994) and the New York Knicks (1999) have won a playoff series as a No. 8 seed – and both did it in the old best-of-five format.

Suns 113, Lakers 100: At Los Angeles, Steve Nash had 23 assists – one shy of the NBA playoff record – to go with 17 points, Amare Stoudemire had 27 points and a career playoff-high 21 rebounds, and Phoenix took a 3-1 lead over the Lakers in their first-round series.

Magic Johnson and John Stockton share the single-game playoff assist record – Johnson doing so for the Lakers against Phoenix in 1984, and Stockton accomplishing the feat against the Lakers for Utah four years later.

Shawn Marion had 22 points and 11 rebounds, supersub Leandro Barbosa scored 16 points and James Jones added 11 for the Suns.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 31 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, but scored only three points in the fourth quarter.

Nets 102, Raptors 81: At East Rutherford, N.J., Vince Carter scored 27 points, Richard Jefferson added 23, and New Jersey took a 3-1 lead over Atlantic Division champion Toronto with the second-biggest playoff win in franchise history.

Jason Kidd added 17 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for New Jersey, which can advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a victory in Game 5 on Tuesday night. If the Raptors win that one, Game 6 would be back in New Jersey on Friday.

Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points for the Raptors.