CHICAGO BULLS GUARD KIRK HINRICH, LEFT, and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade battle for a loose ball during Game 3 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. Hinrich, a former Kansas University star, scored 22 points Friday as Chicago earned a 104-96 victory and took a 3-0 series lead.

Miami ? Andres Nocioni’s quote was tacked above Shaquille O’Neal’s seat in the Miami Heat locker room before the game, the key phrase marked in yellow highlighter.

“We will not sweep Miami,” the Chicago Bulls forward said.

Nocioni might be wrong.

The Bulls are one win from sending the defending NBA champions home for the summer – in stunning style.

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 of a 104-96 victory over the Heat in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night.

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

“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.

“Sunday, we’ve got to just come out and play,” O’Neal said. “Our backs are definitely against the wall, but we can’t give up now. … It can be done. We just have to believe it.”

The Heat trailed by nine 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 111â2 minutes.

Wade scored 28 points and O’Neal added 23 points and 13 rebounds for Miami.

Warriors 109, Mavs 91

Oakland, Calif. – Jason Richardson had 30 points and eight rebounds and Baron Davis added 24 points as Golden State took a 2-1 lead in its first-round playoff series.

The Bay Area’s first NBA playoff game since May 4, 1994, attracted 20,629 fans, the biggest crowd in Warriors history.

They chanted “Overrated!” at the flustered Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in another poor performance.

Stephen Jackson scored 16 points, and Monta Ellis had 14 for the Warriors, who beat the Mavs for the seventh time in their last eight meetings overall.

Nets 102, Raptors 89

East Rutherford, N.J. – Jason Kidd had a playoff-career-high 19 assists in his 10th postseason triple-double, and Vince Carter scored 37 points for New Jersey, which took a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round 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.

T.J. Ford scored 27 points for the Raptors.