Shaq lets his mates do job

Monday, April 25, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Most of the talk before the New Jersey Nets' first-round playoff series with the Heat was about how the Nets would try to defend Shaquille O'Neal, Miami's 7-foot-1, 325-pound behemoth of a center.

In Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday afternoon at Miami, the Nets were able to contain him. O'Neal, who was playing for the first time in a week because of a deep thigh bruise, was limited to 17 points, well below the 36.3 that he averaged against Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals, when he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a four-game sweep.

But because the Nets lost sight of the forest as they concentrated on Miami's one big tree, the Heat -- behind 62 points from their starting backcourt of Dwyane Wade and Damon Jones -- rolled to a 116-98 victory.

Referring to himself by his nickname, O'Neal said: "There was no Diesel explosiveness. Today, I had the firecracker explosiveness."

Wade, who scored a game-high 32 points, and Jones have a single All-Star appearance between them. The Nets' starting backcourt, meanwhile, featured 13 All-Star selections: seven by Kidd and six by Vince Carter.

But Wade and Jones outscored Kidd and Carter, 62-45, in Game 1, with each establishing career highs in points in a postseason game. Jones' previous playoff high was 17.

Carter led the Nets with 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but he made only 8 of his 21 field-goal attempts. Kidd finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

BULLS 103, WIZARDS 94: If rookies Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni can put on this kind of show in their first NBA playoff game, imagine what's in store down the road.

Gordon scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, and Nocioni added 25 points and 18 rebounds while playing all 48 minutes to lift host Chicago in its first playoff victory since the dynasty days.

Trailing 82-77 going into the fourth, Gordon scored 10 points as the Bulls opened with a 13-4 run. After a timeout, Nocioni tied the game on a free throw, and Gordon hit a 3 to put Chicago ahead for good, 87-84, with 8:18 to play.

SUNS 114, GRIZZLIES 103: Shawn Marion had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and stringbean 7-foot backup Steven Hunter scored 16 points -- one shy of his career high -- as Phoenix, which made an NBA record 796 3-pointers in its62-win regular season, set a franchise playoff record with 15 against Memphis in 32 attempts.

Quentin Richardson added 22 points and Joe Johnson 16 for the NBA's highest-scoring team in a decade topped.