On Wednesday night, LeBron James and the Miami Heat proved to the Chicago Bulls that what happened in the regular season will not happen in the Eastern Conference Finals. No sweep this time around. They will take the 85-75 victory and the tied series (1-1) and move on to Game 3 in Miami this Sunday.
After being held to 15 points on a five-for-15 shooting, James led the way with 29 points (12-21 FG), 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals (along with five turnovers) in 45 minutes of play.
After the Bulls erased an 11-point Heat lead in the third and tied the game at 73 with 7:16 remaining in regulation, James scored nine of the last 12 (Heat) points while the Bulls went cold on a one-for-11 shooting.
Derrick Rose was held to 21 points (two points in the fourth quarter) on a seven-for-23 shooting. Rose was shut out inside leaving him to fend for jumpers that just weren’t falling in.
“I missed a lot of shots. It was just one of those nights.” – Rose on his 7-for-23 shooting on the floor
I will not doubt Rose when he has the ball, everyone has a bad shooting night, it’s better to take the shot and miss than to not take it at all.
As a team, the Bull had an overall bad shooting night, something that has been an issue most of the playoff series. They shot only 34% on the floor, and missed valuable free throws (16-26; 62%). They also relied too much on the three ball, making three-of-20.
Taj Gibson led the Bench Mob with eight points (all in the fourth) and three blocks. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer were both quiet and combined for 16 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Luol Deng posted 13 points (four in the first quarter) and five rebounds.
Even though the Bulls took better care of the ball, turning the ball over 10 times to Miami’s 15, they were out-rebounded 45-41 and Miami shot 47% on the floor (hitting 50% at one point).
It also didn’t help when the Bulls came out at the start of the game cold, shooting zero-for-nine on the field.
Udonis Haslem returned for the Heat and chipped in 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Dwyane Wade went eight-for-16 for 24 points and nine rebounds. After coming off a 30-point performance in Game 1, Chris Bosh scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Game two’s performance by the Bulls was the opposite of game one’s. They lacked intensity on both ends of the court and no one led the offense, especially on the bench. Kyle Korver provided another hesitant shooting performance, going one-for-seven in 17 minutes.
“We played a low-energy offense, a low-energy defense and the result was not good.” – Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau
Bulls Extras/Preview of Sunday’s Game: The Bulls will look to bounce back in Miami for game three on Sunday night…After each of their three previous playoff losses, the Bulls have won the following game by double-digits…The Bulls haven’t lost consecutive games since February 5-7…Kyle Korver, please don’t forget to pack the HOTSAUCE! <- He will be my X-Factor for Game Three…
