O’Neal Leads Heat Past Bulls, 113-96

Shaquille O’Neal dominated, Dwyane Wade played well despite a bruised left hip and the Miami Heat never trailed in defeating the Chicago Bulls, 113-96, Thursday night at Chicago.

The second-seeded Heat won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, and will meet the third-seeded New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

O’Neal had 30 points and 20 rebounds while staying out of foul trouble as Miami won its first playoff series against the Bulls and its first postseason game in Chicago. O’Neal made 13 of 24 shots.

Wade scored 23 points, and although he spent more time on the perimeter than usual, he was seven for 12 from the field, including two for three from three-point range.

New Jersey 96, Indiana 90 -- The Nets overcame Anthony Johnson’s 40-point effort to beat the Pacers at Indianapolis and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Richard Jefferson scored 30 points and Vince Carter added 24 for the Nets, who won the best-of-seven series, 4-2. Jason Kidd approached a triple-double with eight points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.

Jermaine O’Neal scored 21 points for the Pacers, who played without Peja Stojakovic for the fourth time in the series because of a sore right knee. The team’s second-leading scorer in the regular season, Stojakovic played in Indiana’s only two wins in the series.

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Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, who led all rookies with 21 double-doubles, was a unanimous selection to the NBA all-rookie team.

Paul, who averaged 16.1 points, 7.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds, topped the first team with 58 points, followed by Toronto’s Charlie Villanueva (56), Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut (55), Utah’s Deron Williams (46) and New York’s Channing Frye (45) in balloting by the league’s head coaches.