Chicago,  IL (SportsNetwork.com)  - The Washington Wizards rallied back from a 
13-point deficit, took the lead with a late run and won going away. 

So which was the team with playoff experience? 

Nene  scored  24 points  and the  Wizards had big  contributions from all five 
starters  in  their first  playoff game  in six  years, a  102-93 win over the 
Chicago Bulls on Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. 

The Bulls remained  in the lead following  a 14-4 run in second quarter until 
Trevor Ariza's free throws with 4:17 remaining put the Wizards in front. 

The  shots were  part of a 14-3  run that gave the Wizards an eight-point lead 
with 25 seconds left. 

Nene rattled in a shot during the spurt but the biggest points might have been 
Marcin  Gortat's baseline  jumper after he rebounded a John Wall miss, pushing 
Washington's lead to six with 34.2 seconds remaining. 

Indeed,  pluck any Wizards  player from the five on the floor at tipoff and he 
made a significant contribution. 

Gortat  collected 15  points and 13 rebounds, Ariza had 18 points, Wall scored 
16  with six rebounds and six assists and Bradley Beal had 13 points and seven 
assists for fifth-seeded Washington. 

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday in Chicago. 

The  fourth-seeded Bulls, in the playoffs for the second straight year without 
injured  star Derrick Rose, were led by 16 points apiece from Kirk Hinrich and 
D.J.  Augustin.  Joakim Noah added 10  points and 10 rebounds and Jimmy Butler 
scored 15. 

The Wizards have won five in a row going back to the regular season. 

The  franchise's last playoff  win came in Game 5 against LeBron James and the 
Cleveland  Cavaliers in 2008, when Caron Butler scored the game-winning bucket 
with 3.9 seconds left. The Wizards lost that first-round series in six games. 

Augustin  led  the Bulls in  the first  half with 12  points off the bench and 
Hinrich  scored  10. They  each had five  points in the  14-4 run that Hinrich 
capped  by  stealing an inbounds pass  and making a  layup to give the Bulls a 
51-44 lead. 

Nene had 14 points in the first half and Wall scored 12 but the Wizards let an 
early six-point lead slip away and trailed by six at halftime. 

Chicago's 13-point lead in the third quarter was followed by a 19-7 Washington 
burst capped by Ariza's 3-pointer to get the Wizards within one. 

                                   Game Notes 

The  Wizards posted  their best regular-season record since they went 45-37 in 
2004-05.  It was the  first time they won at least 30 games in six seasons ... 
The Bulls lost Rose  to another knee injury just 11 games into the season. He 
missed  all of last season with an injury to his other knee and the Bulls beat 
the  Nets in  seven games in the  first round of the playoffs before losing to 
Miami in five.