Heat rally, eliminate Bulls from NBA playoffs

MIAMI | A fast start and faster finish were enough to send the Miami Heat back to the Eastern Conference finals.

Heat rout Bulls 115-78

MIAMI | Joakim Noah was fired up Wednesday night. Maybe too fired up.

Young gay athletes set tone for NBA coming out

CHICAGO | You've probably never heard of Holly Peterson or Jonathan Jean-Pierre. One came out as a lesbian at age 15, when she was playing high school basketball. The other, a college rower, told his teammates last year that he's gay.

Bulls try to slow down Nets in Game 2

NEW YORK | Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau watches tape of the Nets and sees a confident team with an offense in rhythm.

JOHN DOHERTY: ABCs of ACL lost in NBA

Basketball certainly is a contact sport — and that's just in the sports section of the newspaper. The verbal jousting of late has been as bad as I've seen — and that's just among members of the same team.

Pacers lose to Celtics on last-second layup

INDIANAPOLIS | Kevin Garnett found Jeff Green all alone under the basket for a layup with 0.5 seconds remaining to finish off a fourth-quarter comeback from 14 points down, and the Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 83-81 on Wednesday night.

Scouting combine shows NFL's global progress

INDIANAPOLIS | Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah knew nothing about the NFL when he was growing up. Now, he could be a first-round pick in April's draft.

Indiana stays No. 1 in AP Top 25, Gonzaga No. 2

Indiana is No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while Gonzaga moved to No. 2 for the first time in school history.

'Honey Badger' eager to get back on football field

INDIANAPOLIS | Former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu thought he hit rock bottom when Les Miles kicked him off the team last August for failing multiple drug tests.

Current stars celebrate Jordan at 50

HOUSTON | Michael Jordan turned 50 on Sunday, giving this year's All-Stars a chance to reflect on his illustrious career and how much he still means to the sport.

A year later, some like Christmas NBA start better

NEW YORK | Doc Rivers left home for the holiday, lost the game, and loved every minute of it.

Bulls beat 76ers 96-89 for 4th straight road win

PHILADELPHIA | Joakim Noah scored 21 points, Luol Deng added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Bulls won their fourth in a row on the road with a 96-89 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.