Season Sweep

The Miami Heat had everything going for them, if you look at the law of averages. They had already lost 3 games in a row... 2 close ones and a blowout by the Spurs. They had lost the 2 previous meetings with the Bulls. Because of this, all of the ESPN announcers picked the Heat to win on Sunday, saying that they're too good to let it happen. What everyone fails to recognize is that the Bulls are a legitimate top team. People think the first 2 wins were by luck. Luck doesn't last that long. If it was luck, the Bulls wouldn't have their current record and they wouldn't be dominating all of the NBA's top teams. Miami is going to get all of the headlines because of their "Big 3." It's big deal whenever they fail. I don't think that's fair because they really don't have a supporting cast. They have a couple of good players beyond James and Wade, but the Bulls are solid all the way down to #12. Derrick Rose is the best player on both teams, but I can concede that the Heat starting 5 is slightly better than the Bulls. But for the next 7 guys, the Bulls have the clear edge.

In the game, the Heat got off to an early lead, go on top by as much as 12. They had their flashy fast break points in the 1st as the Bulls looked slow on defense and their shots weren't falling. They worked their way back into it with a small run in the 3rd and got the lead late in the 4th. It was a tough game because James and Wade never really slowed down. And Bosh had a great first half. So the Heat played their best and still came up short as the Bulls were better in the final seconds. A 4-point lead evaporated when Chalmers quickly scored to tie and get the lead. Deng was fouled. He hit the first. Then he missed the 2nd. Noah tapped out the rebound back to Deng, who was fouled again by Mike Miller. He converted both. On the other end, James missed a layup and Wade missed a followup jumper to end the game.

With the win, the Bulls move into 2nd place by a full game... 2 in the loss column over Miami. They own the season series if it comes down to a tie. They proved that they could consistently beat Miami, which is very important when it comes to playoff time. Rose likely secured the MVP as he outplayed James again.