Warriors roll over Mavericks

The Golden State Warriors put on a show that was well worth their fans' 13-year wait.

Jason Richardson had 30 points and eight rebounds, Baron Davis added 24 points, and the Warriors steamrolled the No. 1-seeded Dallas Mavericks for the second time in three games, winning, 109-91, last night in Oakland, Calif., to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

The Bay Area's first NBA playoff game since May 4, 1994, was a rollicking success for the eighth-seeded Warriors, whose faithful fans endured 12 straight losing seasons before coach Don Nelson got them back to the playoffs this spring.

And after dominating both ends of the court in another improbably comfortable win over the mighty Mavericks, the Warriors are halfway to what likely would be the biggest first-round upset in NBA playoff history.

The biggest crowd in Warriors history -- 20,629 yellow-clad fans packed into the rafters of Oracle Arena -- rarely sat down during Oakland's biggest party in years. The fans chanted "Overrated!" at the flustered Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in another poor performance.

Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is tomorrow night in Oakland, with Game 5 back in Dallas Tuesday.

Bulls 104, Heat 96 -- Ben Gordon scored 27 points, Luol Deng added 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Chicago used a 15-2 fourth-quarter run to seize control against host Miami in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Chicago leads the series 3-0 -- a cushion no team has ever wasted in NBA history -- and will go for the sweep in Miami tomorrow.

"We are outworking them right now," Bulls center Ben Wallace said. "I think we want it a little bit more than they want it."

Entering these playoffs, 78 teams had faced 0-3 deficits. The Heat need no one to tell them that all 78 have failed to win.

The Heat trailed by 9 points with 2:33 left and got within 99-96 on a jumper by Dwyane Wade about a minute later, but no closer. They led by 12 points in the third quarter, but misfired on 19 of their 35 free throw attempts and were outscored, 32-17, over the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Wade -- who shed the black sleeve on his injured left shoulder -- scored 28 points and O'Neal added 23 points and 13 rebounds for Miami. But Wade was 4 for 10 from the foul line, O'Neal 3 for 12.

Meanwhile, Chicago outrebounded Miami by a wide margin (44-33) for the third straight game, plus made 29 of 37 free throws.

Kirk Hinrich added 22 points for Chicago.

Nets 102, Raptors 89 -- Jason Kidd had a playoff career-high 19 assists in his 10th postseason triple-double, Vince Carter scored 37 points, and host New Jersey beat Toronto to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

One day after missing practice because of a bruised left knee, Kidd was back in the starting lineup and added 16 points and 16 rebounds. He had 14 assists by halftime and easily passed his previous best of 16, set when he was playing for Phoenix. He also had the previous New Jersey record of 15.

Kidd moved into second place on the career postseason triple-doubles list with Larry Bird. He is still 20 behind Magic Johnson, the career leader.

The Nets, who never trailed and led by as many as 21 points, host Game 4 tomorrow night.

T.J. Ford scored 27 points for the Raptors, who haven't won a postseason road game since beating Philadelphia May 6, 2001, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. All-Star forward Chris Bosh was limited to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

New Jersey shot 61 percent and led, 31-19, after one quarter behind 13 points from Carter.

Richard Jefferson scored 18 points for the Nets, who shot 53 percent and had 31 assists on their 41 field goals.