The Eastern Conference Finals are finally upon us and after all the trials and tribulations the playoffs have given us, we are left with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the East: The Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.
The Bulls’ road in these playoffs has been a difficult one to this point. In the first-round, the 8th seeded Indiana Pacers gave Chicago an incredibly difficult time in a series which should have been a walk in the park. The Bulls won the series in five games, but those wins did not come easy. The four Chicago wins were by five points, six points, four points, and then a blowout in Game 5 to take the series, with the Pacers claiming Game 4.
The Semi-Finals, Which Chicago took down in 6 games over the Atlanta Hawks, proved to be even more difficult. Much was made of Derrick Rose’s 44 point Game 3 performance, but that game would prove to be a symbol of what was actually wrong in Chicago, namely their issues getting other players involved in the offense. Chicago comes into these Eastern Conference Finals still a little lost offensively, but playing very well on the defensive side of the ball.
The Miami Heat have had a different playoff experience. They handily knocked off The Philadelphia 76ers in the first-round, a series many thought could pose some issues for the Heat, and then took down last year’s Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics in Round 2. In the end, Boston took just one game from Miami in that series, as the Heat rolled on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Miami is playing their best basketball right now and almost undoubtedly come into this series with less questions than Chicago does. That being said, all bets are off in the Conference Finals. Miami couldn’t beat the Bulls in the regular seasons and Chicago has home-court in this series. Oh, and Chicago happens to have the league’s MVP running the point.
That being said, if the Bulls want a shot at the Finals, they need to get other players involved offensively. Derrick Rose needs a number two man. Rose is not going to be able to score 44 points every game, and versus this difficult Heat defense, he may not even be able to score 20 some nights. The Bulls must find a way to win games when Derrick Rose is struggling.
This responsibility falls primarily on the shoulders of Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer. Boozer came to Chicago for that purpose, to give Rose some help offensively. It is safe to say that he has fallen short of that this year. That being said, Boozer had a great game 6 vs. Atlanta, and if he can keep that success going Chicago is going to be a tough team to beat.
Miami’s major offensive issues lie in their half-court sets. They have been much better in these playoffs, but still have issues slipping into isolation mode when they are not in transition. When they slip into this mode they become highly inefficient and easy to break down. But when they move the ball, they can be unstoppable.
Game 1 tips off in Chicago at 8pm on TNT.
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