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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. Darin Erstad Jersey .J. -- Omar Cummings helped the Houston Dynamo advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. Justin Upton Jersey . The 26-year-old slider from Calgary posted a time of 50.464 seconds, 0.573 seconds back of leader Natalie Geisenberger. The German led the overall World Cup womens standings this season and continued her dominance by putting down a track record time of 49. http://www.baseballangelslockroom.com/. The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Kole Calhoun Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Shohei Ohtani Jersey . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday.SEATTLE -- Keith Price threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half, Deontae Cooper scored his first career touchdown after three major knee surgeries, and No. 17 Washington routed Idaho State 56-0 on Saturday in the Huskies final tuneup before the start of Pac-12 Conference play. Bishop Sankey, the national leader in yards rushing per game, barely broke a sweat against the Bengals (2-1) of the FCS. Sankey saw action on the Huskies (3-0) first three series and scored on a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter. Sankey finished with 77 yards on four carries. Price played a little more than 1 1/2 quarters, throwing TD passes of 1, 6 and 5 yards and adding a 1-yard TD run as the Huskies led 42-0 at halftime. It was the second straight season the Huskies overwhelmed a lower division opponent in the first half. Last year, Washington led Portland State 45-0 at halftime. Washington has won its first three games for the first time since 2001 when it started 4-0. The team reopened Husky Stadium by dominating Boise State, earned its first non-conference road win since 2007 by winning at Illinois last week, and got backups playing time against the Bengals. The real test for Washington begins next week when Arizona visits Seattle to open Pac-12 play. It starts a brutal four-game stretch to conference play that is followed by a game at Stanford, home for Oregon, and at Arizona State. That upcoming challenge, as much as the opponent, was the reason Sankeys day was so limited. Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said earlier this week the 35 carries Sankey had against Illinois were too many. Sankey had runs of 36, 3, 16 and 22 yards before calling it a day and turn the running load over to a deep stable of backups.dddddddddddd Jesse Callier had an 8-yard TD run in the first quarter, but Coopers first TD was the highlight. Cooper scored on a 4-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter with the remaining crowd erupting in cheers. Cooper was a highly regarded recruit coming out of high school and has come back from three ACL injuries. Saturday was the most extensive action of his career against the Bengals with 14 carries for 59 yards. Freshman John Ross also got to show off his speed, taking a screen pass from Cyler Miles 57 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Miles ended up Washingtons leading rusher with 89 yards on four carries. The Huskies 680 total offensive yards were second-most in school history. But Sarkisian will have plenty to bark about. Washington was sloppy with penalties for the second straight week with two touchdowns called back. The Huskies were penalized 16 times. Idaho State lost its 19th straight game to FBS opponents and hasnt knocked off a higher-division squad since beating Utah State in 2000. The Bengals were coming off a pair of wins over Division II opponents, and Justin Arias began the day as the FCS leader in yards passing per game at 434. But the Bengals undersized offensive line couldnt match Washingtons power and speed, and Arias was under pressure all afternoon. He was sacked five times in the first half and missed on his first six passes before finding Broc Malcolm on a 5-yard completion early in the second quarter. Idaho State spent most of the first half with negative total yards and finished the half with just 20 yards of offence. Arias finished 18 of 39 for 140 yards and two interceptions. ' ' '