Daily NBA Fix 4-28-14: A Magic Fix For Sterling’s Mess

By Phil Watson | Apr 28, 2014

Apr 27, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3, right) and forward Blake Griffin (32, left) warm up before game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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Apr 27, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza (1) shoots the ball as Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich (12) looks on in the third quarter in game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 98-89. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

WASHINGTON WIZARDS 98, Chicago Bulls 89
Game 4, Eastern Conference First Round
The Wizards blew out to a 14-0 lead before the Bulls knew what hit them, then held off Chicago the rest of the way to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Washington is 5-0 in best-of-7 series in which it takes a 3-1 lead, but since most of those series happened in the Mesozoic Era of the NBA, it’s probably not all that relevant.

The Wizards, though, without Nene Hilario, got a huge game from Trevor Ariza, who scored 30 points and harassed Mike Dunleavy throughout, holding the Bulls forward who had 35 points in Chicago’s Game 3 win to just six points on 3-of-8 shooting on Sunday.

Chicago didn’t do a great job of taking advantage of Nene’s absence. Taj Gibson scored 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting, but the other Bulls bigs (Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah) were a combined 7-for-16 for 18 points.

Bradley Beal scored 18 points for Washington, Marcin Gortat added 17 and John Wall finished with 15 points and 10 assists.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points for the Bulls, but was 5-for-14 from the floor. Noah had 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Game 5 of the series is Tuesday back in Chicago.