Gilbert Arenas hit a 4.5m jump shot at the buzzer to foil a remarkable comeback by the Chicago Bulls and give Washington a 112-110 victory Wednesday that pushed the Wizards within one victory of their first playoff series win in 23 years.
"I knew I was going to make it. I shoot those shots every day," Arenas said. "You dream about it when you are growing up and when you get that chance, you don't want to blow it."
Washington leads the first-round best-of-seven series 3-2, with Game 6 at the MCI Center today.
PHOTO: AP
Chicago's Jannero Pargo hit a 3-pointer, his third of the fourth quarter, to tie the game with 5.2 seconds remaining as the Bulls fought back from a 22-point, second-half deficit.
But after a timeout, Arenas took the ball out front, moved left with Kirk Hinrich guarding him and hit one of the biggest shots of his career.
"I was just trying to play him the best I could. I knew he would shoot the ball," Hinrich said. "I tried to challenge it without fouling, hoping he'd miss and we'd go to overtime. It was a tough shot. If I had to do it over again, I would not let him go left. It's just heartbreak. ... It's a dagger."
Larry Hughes scored a career playoff-high 33 points for the Wizards, who had a 10-point lead with 41 seconds to go.
A pair of 3-pointers by Pargo and another by Hinrich with 11.6 seconds left cut the lead to 109-107.
Ben Gordon scored 27, Hinrich 23 and Tyson Chandler 22 with 10 rebounds for the Bulls, making their first playoff appearance since Michael Jordan won the last of his six titles.
Spurs 99, Nuggets 89
In San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 21 points, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and San Antonio eliminated Denver.
After dropping the first game in the series, the Spurs won four in a row and now moves in the Western Conference playoffs.
San Antonio, which has lost only four times on its home court this season, moves on to a second-round matchup with Seattle.
Manu Ginobili added 18 points and Robert Horry scored 17, including a pair of key 3-pointers in the third for the Spurs.
Denver couldn't find the same game that won Game 1 and rallied them to overtime in a Game 4 loss on their homecourt and disappointed on the night.
Carmelo Anthony, who complained after Monday night's loss he didn't get enough touches, finished with 25 points for Denver. Andre Miller added 16 points for the Nuggets.
Okafor gets award
Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor, one of only eight players to average double figures in scoring and rebounding this year, was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year on Wednesday.
Okafor received 77 of 126 possible first-place votes and earned 514 points from a media panel.
"It's an honor to win the Rookie of the Year with such other talented candidates," Okafor said. "This is an award that every rookie strives to get and it means a lot to me. It was a fun season and I look forward to many more good times with the Charlotte Bobcats."
Ben Gordon, a guard with the Chicago Bulls and winner of the Sixth Man Award as the league's top reserve, finished second in the voting with 443 points.
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