avenging two losses from earlier in the season

WASHINGTON -- If the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls will have a nice little blueprint to follow. The Bulls dominated from the get-go Saturday night and never trailed in a 96-78 win over the Wizards, avenging two losses from earlier in the season and providing perhaps a psychological edge if these teams are cranking up for a seven-game series in a couple of weeks. "It was definitely a statement game," Washington forward Drew Gooden said. "We were going in the mindset of this being a statement game, getting a possible matchup in the first round, and they took it the same way. They wanted to make a statement early." And they certainly did, holding the Wizards to 16 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second while building a lead that grew as large as 28 points. At one point, Washington was 0 for 7 from the 3-point line and 0 for 3 from the free throw line for the game, as well as 2 for 13 from the field in the second period. "They were taking shots they didnt want to take," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. D.J. Augustin found plenty that he liked, as long as he was behind the arc. He led Chicago with 25 points, making 6 of 11 3-pointers but only 2 of 8 2-pointers. Joakim Noah had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Carlos Boozer added 16 points for the Bulls, who have won five straight and are tied with the Toronto Raptors for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Augustin has averaged 19.8 points during the winning streak. Unlike the Wizards, who freely talked about a rematch in the playoffs, the Bulls didnt want to think that far ahead. "We lost to these guys at home. We lost to them here. It was just getting this win tonight," Augustin said. "Were not looking forward to the playoffs just yet, but we wanted to come out tonight and do it for ourselves." John Wall scored 20 points, and Marcin Gortat had 19 for the Wizards, who sit in sixth place in the East. If they hold that spot, they would face the third-seeded team. Several Washington players cited fatigue as an issue on the back end of a back-to-back, but coach Randy Wittman noted that Chicago played Friday night as well. It also didnt help that Trevor Ariza played through an illness and went 1 for 9 from the field. Wittman, however, said his team wasnt ready for the Bulls intensity and aggression. "You fight aggression with aggression," Wittman said. "And it was only a one-way fight tonight." One likely difference if the teams do meet again: Wizards forward Nene, out with a sprained left knee, is expected back for the playoffs. He played in the two early wins over the Bulls. "Nene gives us another facilitator," Wittman said. "And against a team like this you need another one. Nene was another guy that kind of can play like Noah does, up at the top with the ball in his hands. Thats not an excuse why we lost. Id love to have him back, though." The Wizards made a run in the third quarter, scoring more points (35) in the period than they had in the entire first half (26). Walls 30-foot bounce pass to Trevor Booker on a fast break led to a dunk that pulled Washington within 11 and brought the crowd to its feet. But Noah took over and quickly squashed the rally. His three-point play started a 12-0 run early in the fourth quarter that put the game away. "We wanted to throw the first punch tonight, and I think we did a good job with that," Noah said. "In the beginning of the game, we were the more aggressive team. Usually, the most aggressive team wins." Notes: Noah was naturally less than thrilled that his college, Florida, lost its game in the Final Four. He opened his postgame remarks by saying: "No questions about the Gators, sensitive issue." ... The Wizards finished 3 for 16 from 3-point range. ... As the team with the NBAs only Polish player (Gortat), the Wizards celebrated Polish Heritage Night. Polands ambassador to the U.S. made a presentation to Gortat before tipoff. ... The Wizards recalled G Glen Rice from Iowa of the D-League. Cheap Air Max 270 Canada .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. Air Max 270 Cheap Online . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug. http://www.cheapairmax270canada.com/. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) – He had good saves on Giroux, Akeson, and Hartnell tonight. Air Max 270 Clearance Canada . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury. Air Max 270 Canada Online . Now, he might be their hottest pitcher. Lobstein earned up his first major league victory Sunday night, allowing one run in 5 2-3 innings in the Tigers 6-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Lightning didnt have much time to dwell on giving up the tying goal late in the third period.Ryan Callahan scored in regulation and got the decisive goal in the shootout to lift Tampa Bay to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, moving the Lightning back into first place in the Eastern Conference.Ben Bishop made two big stops in the shootout and finished with 40 saves as Tampa Bay moved one point ahead of the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders atop the East.Ryan OReilly and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, and Semyon Varlamov had 29 saves. MacKinnons goal tied the score with 6.8 seconds remaining.Youve got to turn the page real quick, Bishop said. I thought we did a good job in overtime.Anton Stralman also scored in regulation.Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning ahead in the first round of the shootout and Matt Duchene tied it for Colorado in the second round. Callahan then got the winner in the third round.Its tough, you know, because we killed some late penalties, Callahan said. You know, they end up getting one in with 6 seconds left, and we had to regroup and ready for overtime right away. Then we had another huge kill at the end of overtime and end up winning the shootout, so we did a good job to regroup after that late goal.Stralman put the Lightning ahead 2-1 with his third goal of the season at 4:08 of the third period thanks to a batted down pass from Valtteri Filppula.The Lightnning took the early lead on Callahans 15th goal of the season on a power play just 1:58 into the game.ddddddddddddThats the way it goes (losing in a shootout), Varlamov said. They scored goals and we didnt score enough until very late. . It was a pretty good move (by Callahan), and they scored in the shootout.OReilly tied it 51 seconds into the second period.The Avalanche, outshot 15-5 in the opening period, turned the tables on the Lightning in the second with 20-9 edge.(Bishop) got us the two points, Callahan said. He was unbelievable out there, especially in overtime. Its impressive because he was definitely our best player tonight.On MacKinnons late goal, the Avalanche used six skaters for nearly 2 minutes and had a flurry of chances as the Lightning couldnt clear the puck.The Avalanche have won eight of the past 11 meetings with the Lightning and are 12-5-1 in the past 18 matchups.NOTES: Lightning D Victor Hedman returned to action after missing the past two games with an undisclosed lower body injury. ... Tampa Bay called up D Luke Witkowski from Syracuse of the AHL on Friday. ... Lightning rookie LW Jonathan Drouin will return to the lineup Saturday after being scratched Thursday. ... Following Saturdays game, Lighting assistant coach Steve Thomas was granted a temporary leave of absence from the team to attend to a personal matter. . Lightning C Steven Stamkos, who tied for the league-high 26 goals, saw a four-game goal streak snapped. ' ' '