Basketball: Wizards rally past Bulls to advance to conference semifinal

The Washington Wizards advanced to the second round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs for the first time in 23 years, after a combined team effort helped them rally past the Chicago Bulls 94-91 at home today.

With the game tied at 91-91, Jared Jefferies scooped up a Chicago turnover and raced down the court for the game winning dunk with 33 seconds remaining, sending the packed crowd into a frenzy.

Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes all scored 19 points as the Wizards took the best-of-seven games Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2.

Washington will now meet the top-seeded Heat in the conference semifinals starting in Miami on Sunday.

The series win put the Wizards into the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

The victory was also the Wizards 11th straight win over the Bulls in Washington, including three games in this series.

"We did a great job staying confident and staying positive," Jamison said during a courtside interview moments after the game.

Washington lost the first two games of the series in Chicago but rallied to win four straight, becoming just the ninth team in NBA history to win a playoff series after losing the first two games.

Brendan Haywood added 15 points for the Wizards, while Jefferies added 12 as five Wizards hit double-digits in scoring.

Kirk Hinrich had 22 points and nine assists for the Bulls, who were out-scored 26-17 in the fourth quarter.

Andres Nocioni also had 22 points, while Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.

- REUTERS