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NBA : Heat take hot seat

Down 3-0 to Chicago in a best-of- 7 series, Miami is going to have to fight hard to keep their title defense alive. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Down 3-0 to Chicago in a best-of- 7 series, Miami is going to have to fight hard to keep their title defense alive. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Chicago is one win away from sending the defending NBA champions home for the summer – in stunning style.

Ben Gordon scored 27 points, Luol Deng added 24 points and 11 rebounds and the Bulls used a 15-2 fourth-quarter run to seize control of a 104-96 victory in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night.

Chicago leads the series 3-0 – a cushion no team has ever wasted in NBA history – and will go for the sweep in Miami on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat trailed by nine points with 2:33 left and got within 99-96 on a jumper by Dwyane Wade with 1:25 left, but got no closer. They led by 12 points in the third quarter, but misfired on 19 of their 35 free-throw attempts and were outscored 32-17 over the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Wade – who shed the black sleeve he was using to keep his left shoulder, the one he dislocated in February, warm – scored 28 points and Shaquille O’Neal added 23 points and 13 rebounds for Miami. But Wade was 4 for 10 from the free throw line, O’Neal was 3 for 12.

Meanwhile, Chicago outrebounded Miami by a wide margin (44-33) for the third straight game, plus made 29 of 37 free throws.

Warriors 109, Mavericks 91: At Oakland, Calif., the Bay Area’s first NBA playoff game since May 4, 1994, was a rollicking success for the eighth-seeded Warriors.

Jason Richardson had 30 points and eight rebounds, Baron Davis added 24 points and the Warriors steamrolled the NBA-leading Dallas Mavericks for the second time in three games, taking a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Stephen Jackson scored 16 points and Monta Ellis had 14 for the Warriors, who extended their uncanny Mavs mastery with their seventh win in the clubs’ last eight meetings overall, including a three-game regular-season sweep.

Game 4 in the best-of-7 series is Sunday night in Oakland, with Game 5 back in Dallas on Tuesday.

Nets 102, Raptors 89: At East Rutherford, N.J., Jason Kidd had a playoff career-high 19 assists in his 10th postseason triple-double, Vince Carter scored 37 points, and New Jersey beat Toronto to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

One day after missing practice because of a bruised left knee, Kidd was back in the starting lineup and added 16 points and 16 rebounds. He had 14 assists by halftime and easily passed his previous best of 16, set when he was playing for Phoenix.

Off the court

Marcus Camby was name the NBA’s defensive player of the year. Camby averaged a league-best 3.3 blocks to go with 11.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. He also averaged 1.24 steals, tops among centers. He received 70 first-place votes and 431 points from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. … Golden State guard Monta Ellis was selected the NBA’s Most Improved Player on Wednesday, edging Sacramento’s Kevin Martin in the closest voting in the award’s history. Ellis received 47 first-place votes and 352 points from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. …Golden State’s Stephen Jackson was fined $50,000 by the NBA for his conduct after being ejected late in the Warriors’ Game 2 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. … Kansas sophomore standout Brandon Rush was one of four players to declare for the NBA draft, but will not sign with an agent. Also declaring were Oklahoma State junior guard JamesOn Curry, Southern California guard Gabe Pruitt, and New Orleans junior Bo McCalebb.