I was just one of a chorus of voices that thought the Heat were going to come into these Eastern Conference Finals ready, willing, and able to rip the Chicago Bulls to shreds. Chicago had a difficult time with two teams it should have beat handily in the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers. The Miami Heat, on the other hand, tore through the Boston Celtics in 5 games after doing the same to Philadelphia in Round One.
Contrary, though, to a logical conclusion from this, Chicago beat up Miami on both sides of the floor taking down Game 1 in Chicago 103 – 82. With a mix of extremely effective and tenacious defense and a balanced scoring attack, Chicago once again looked like the #1 seed they are.
The Heat, on the other hand, suffered a major offensive breakdown. Lebron James scored just 15 points on 5-15 shooting, while Dwayne Wade had just 18 (7-17). To make matters worse, both Lebron and Wade got to the free throw line just four times each. Chris Bosh was the lone bright spot for a struggling Miami offense, pouring in 30 points on 12-18 shooting. The Bulls will gladly let Bosh score 30, however, if it means Lebron and Wade are completely shut down as they were on Sunday.
For Chicago’s part, they got 28 from Rose, 21 from Deng, and 14 from Boozer, while Noah and Gibson both had 9 (should Taj’s posterizing dunk on Wade count for 5 points? Somebody get David Stern on the phone…).
Can Chicago’s offense score more than 103 points? Of course. But if they continue to play defense the way they were on Sunday, they won’t have to.
Tonight we go back to Chicago for Game 2 and if the Heat want a chance at evening this series, they need to find a way to get around the Bulls’ lead-leading defense.
It may sound like a broken record, but the key is ball movement. When you have 3 stars out on the floor together, you have to find effective ways to use them as decoys. The problem with double-teaming Wade is you miss Lebron, and vice versa. And the problem with focusing your energy on the wing often leaves Bosh open and ready to attack underneath as he did Sunday.
Chicago is happy to turn Miami into a jump shoot – only team who rarely scores in the paint and takes a number of long, contested shots. At times, it seems the Heat are too, but they will never get to the Finals that way. The Heat need to establish the dribble-drive and low post early so they can open up their game on the perimeter later on and get open looks. It’s going to take a team effort to do this and a smart game plan from Heat coach Eric Spoelstra.
Chicago, on the other hand, played exactly the game they want to be playing. Deng contained Lebron and the length of Chicago forced the Heat to take many low percentage shots on the perimeter. Bosh scored at will but no one else could do a thing, a trade off Chicago will take with a smile.
Also of note is offensive rebounds. Many Heat players have mentioned getting beaten on the offensive glass and they couldn’t be more right. The Bulls pulled down 19 offensive rebounds in Game 1, while the Heat grabbed just six. With Miami giving up that many second chance points, consider that grave dug.
If Game 2 is anything like Game 1, that Heat jet back to South Beach won’t be a joyous one.
Game 2 tips off at 8:30pm on TNT.
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