Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison made sure Washington's 17-year drought of a playoff win, as the Wizards defeated the Bulls by a final score of 117-99.

Arenas scored 32 points, while Hughes and Jamison each had 21 and Etan Thomas chipped in 20.

Chicago had six scorers in double-figures, but none scored more than 15.

Ben Gordon's minutes were limited due to illness and he has just 8 points.

Game 4 is on Monday at the MCI Center where the Wizards will try to even the series at 2 game a piece.

Ben Gordon sat out Friday?s practice because he was feeling a bit ill.  Rookie Gordon has been huge for the Bulls against the Wizards and it is very unlikely that he will not be ready for game 3 today.

"I would imagine he'll play," coach Scott Skiles said. "But we didn't see any reason to do anything with him. We let him rest. He's been on medication for a couple of days, so I'm sure he'll be fine for Saturday."

Kirk Hinrich scored 21 of his 34 points in the 4th quarter to carry the Bulls to a 113-103 Game 2 victory, taking a 2-0 series lead.

After trailing by 10 at the end of the 1st quarter, the Bulls outscored the Wizards 38-21 during the 2nd.

Jannero Pargo gave the Bulls a boost in the 2nd quarter, hitting a couple jumpers to lead the charge.

Gilbert Arenas scored 39 points, bouncing back after scoring just 9 in Game 1.  Unfortunately, the Wizards got just 19 points from Larry Hughes, 18 points from Antawn Jamison and 12 points from Juan Dixon and no other scorers were in double-figures.

Wizards? center and future recipient of a mid-level exception contract in this summer?s free-agent market Kwame Brown got a bit of good news last night.  His MRI concluded no structural damage to his bruised knee, an injury he received in the fourth quarter of the Wizards loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Brown practiced with the team today and will most likely be ready for tomorrow?s Game 2.

After the game, Brown was very poetic in his evaluation of the Wizards loss.

"We have to let it hurt," Brown said. "We have to look at tape and see what we did wrong."

Said Brown of the poor shooting night by All-Stars Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas.  ?Those guys are not going to have games like that this whole series, but they have to realize that [the Bulls] are going to key up on them.  They've been called the Big Three [with Larry Hughes] all year. I'm sure all the scouting tapes have been geared toward stopping them. So there are going to be guys like myself, guys like Juan [Dixon] who are coming off the bench that will be able to take the pressure of them. They've got to realize that early and then get it going for themselves late."

The music was blaring and fans were screaming at decibels unheard in seven years in the United Center, loud enough to shake the old echoes, but not loud enough to drown out the new ones coming from Andres Nocioni's lungs.

Chicago's 25-year-old rookie forward from Argentina, Nocioni seized every rebound like a birthright, punctuating all 18 with a yell as if to announce: The Bulls are back.

Andres Nocioni made his playoff debut in grand fashion, scoring 25 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in 47 minutes of play, sparking the Bulls to a 103-94 win over the Washington Wizards.  The win was the Bulls first since 1998.

Ben Gordon led all Bulls' scorers with 30 points, including 3-5 from 3-point territory.

Larry Hughes had a game-high 31 points to pace the Wizards.  Gilbert Arenas struggled all game long, scoring just 9 points on 3-19 shooting.

Kwame Brown gave the Wizards a very solid game, finishing with 13 points and 9 rebounds before being helped off the court in the final moments with a knee injury.

Despite the fact that he was heavily involved with the Washington Wizards as a player/minority owner/president of basketball operations, Michael Jordan will be rooting for his old Bulls according to Wizards players.

Asked which of the two teams Jordan favors, Washington's Larry Hughes replied, "Oh, Chicago! No doubt."

Jordan, who was fired from the Wizards in May 2003, was responsible for signing Larry Hughes, a player who has had a tremendous impact in Washington.  On the down side, Michael Jordan squandered the Wizards #1 pick in the 2001 draft on Kwame Brown, thought by many to be the biggest bust coming out of the #1 spot, however, he is still considered to be a mid-level exception candidate in the coming off-season according to a recent RealGM poll.

Reggie Miller's final regular season home game was an emotional won, but also a victorious one.

The Pacers squeaked by the Chicago Bulls by a final score of 85-83.

``There was so much surrounding this game, trying to stay focused,'' Miller said after to the Conseco Fieldhouse audience following the game. ``You look around the arena, you have your family in, it's tough. I was emotional the whole time.''

Miller scored 12 points on 3-13 shooting, but Jermaine O'Neal scored 21 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

The Chicago Bulls announced they have placed forward/center Tyson Chandler on the Injured List (for tonight?s game only) with a sprained left ankle and activated guard Frank Williams (left groin strain).  Chandler injured his ankle in last night?s win against New York.  He will return in time for the playoffs and will be included on the Bulls? 12-man active roster.

Chandler, a 7-1, 235-pound fourth-year veteran, has appeared in a career-high 80 games on the year.  Prior to tonight, the only game he missed this season was Chicago?s Feb. 15 game against Sacramento.  On the year, he is averaging 8.0 ppg, 9.7 rpg (8th in the NBA), 1.76 bpg (13th) and 27.4 mpg.  

Williams, a third-year veteran out of Illinois has appeared in nine games for the Bulls this season.

Bulls general manager John Paxson stated that he doesn?t expect coach Scott Skiles? contract to be an issue this summer during an interview Tuesday on WMVP 1000-AM. The Bulls hold an option on Skiles for next season.

?When the season ends, the option doesn?t matter,? Paxson said. ?I want to be able to work out an extension for Scott. That?s my thought process. But it?s not anything to deal with right now.

?When it comes to Scott, I?ve said all along, I want Scott to be here a long time. I respect him, I think the world of him. He?s a terrific coach and my attention when the season ends is to sign him to a contract extension, not just worry about the option.?