Bulls Beat the Wiz, Take 2-0 Lead in Series

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Apr 28, 2005 5:30PM

With Chicagoist in the house, the Bulls defeated the Washington Wizards 113-103 -- taking a 2-0 lead in the best of seven playoff series. That also means that Chicagoist will be partaking in a free Big Mac for lunch!

Despite falling behind 17-4 in the first quarter, the Bulls rallied to take a 57-50 lead at the half. That run was sparked by the likes of Tyson Chandler, Jannero Pargo, Adrian Griffin, Erik Piatkowski and Othella Harrington. That's a more likely expansion team lineup than playoff lineup!

In the second half, Kirk Hinrich caught fire. He shot 9 of 10, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers and helped the Bulls build a 21 point lead early in the 4th. He scored 21 points in the final period on his way to 34 points in the game. There's no word yet on whether Antoine Jamison has extended Hinrich any birthday wishes.

Hinrich's hot shooting countered 39 points by the Wizard's Gilbert Arenas. Held to just 9 points in the first game, he rediscovered his shooting touch but that wasn't enough to knock off the Bulls.

The two teams now head to DC for the next two games. They play Saturday at 2:00pm and Monday evening. Will the series have to return to Chicago for the Bulls to close the Wiz out? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for Washington to win one game and let the Bulls eliminate them in front of the home crowd at the United Center. Sadly, Chicagoist has no tickets for that game (yet)...

Update: Here's DCist's take on the series following last night's game.

Photo via ChicagoBulls.com