Basketball World

After the Bulls routed the Heat in Game 1, Miami has come storming back with three consecutive victories.
LeBron James led the Heat in the team's most recent win with 35 points in a 101-93 overtime victory that gave Miami a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Miami has used dominant defense and solid team play to overwhelm the Bulls in the last three games. The Heat's Big Three have really come up big in this series, with the trio contributing in key moments on both sides of the floor.

Derrick Rose had a chance to win Game 4 in regulation, but LeBron's defense shut down the league MVP.

After Dwyane Wade struggled in the game, he came alive in overtime, scoring six of his 14 points, as well as two crucial defensive plays that helped give the Heat enough to hand the Bulls their first three-game loosing streak of the season.

Rose has been limited to 36 percent shooting in the series, and that in large part can be attributed to James stellar defense.

Miami has also gotten a big lift from their bench, mainly Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, who has returned from injury to give the Heat toughness and rebounding that they had previously been lacking.

Miller broke out of his slump to post 12 points and nine rebounds in the midst of his newly born child being in the intensive care unit. Miami will need bench production again if they want to end the series tonight.

Chicago is looking to rebound on their home floor in order to avoid elimination and bring the series back to Miami for a Game 6. They have struggled in the fourth quarter against Miami, who has outscored them by 25 points in games 2-4 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Game 5 begins at 8:30 pm ET with the Heat keeping the same starting lineup of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mike Bibby and Joel Anthony and the Bulls sending out Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Keith Bogans.




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LeBron James led the Miami Heat to their third straight win over the Chicago Bulls to help Miami take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals seven-game series.
It was a hard-fought game by both teams with Derrick Rose missing the game-winning shot to send the game went into overtime, where the Heat were able to pull away for the win.

These are the keys to the game.

The probability at this point is undeniable. The team that takes a 3-1 lead wins the series 94 percent of the time. It's hard to see either of these young teams, the Chicago Bulls or the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming back to win their series. It's likely that the Heat and Mavericks will meet in the finals.

Which brings up this point: Both Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James have been playing like they're on a mission. They are arguably the two greatest players without a ring.








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For the second consecutive game the Miami Heat have seemingly imposed their will on the Chicago Bulls. The Heat’s speed on the defensive side of the ball, the fact that they switch everything and the success that they’ve had in keeping Derrick Rose out of the lane has given them a 2-1 series lead, winning Game 3 with a final score of 95-86, and Chicago’s decisive victory in Game 1 has long since been forgotten given their play over the last two games.

Chris Bosh, the proverbial whipping boy in Miami this season, turned in yet another outstanding game with 34 points; LeBron James chipped in 22 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds; and Dwyane Wade contributed 17 points and 9 rebounds. Udonis Haslem, the hero in Game 2, had another solid outing with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes of play on the floor, but it was the team defense of the Heat that was the most impressive as they forced Chicago into shooting 41 percent from the field as compared to Miami’s blistering 50 percent.

For the Bulls, it was yet another struggle for Derrick Rose. He contributed 20 points on 8-19 shooting and in the fourth quarter he managed to score just 2 points on 2 field goal attempts. Miami’s scheme to keep him out of the lane has worked exceptionally well and Chicago still hasn’t figured out a way to adjust and make the game easier for him.

Carlos Boozer tuned in his best game of the postseason thus far with 26 points and 17 rebounds, but like Rose, Boozer shot just 8-19 from the field and continued to frustrate fans by missing countless layups at the rim for 3-point play opportunities. It’s hard to imagine a player putting up those kinds of numbers and still having virtually no impact on the game, but that was the case for Boozer in Game 3. Joakim Noah, who pulled a Kobe Bryant by making a homophobic slur directed at a fan behind Chicago’s bench after drawing his second foul in the 1st quarter, may have been amped up a little too much as he turned in a very disappointing line with just 1 point and 5 rebounds. He did have 6 assists in the game, but his contributions were sorely needed on the offensive and rebounding ends.

The loss Sunday night is only the second time this season that Chicago has lost back-to-back games. They’ll be looking to earn a split in Game 4 on Tuesday night in an absolute must-win game. Losing and going down 3-1 in the series to these Miami Heat will effectively mean that their season is over.






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