Chicago Bulls Roll While Miami Heat Stumble: Is This a Sign of Things to Come?
If you were to seed the playoffs based on current records, the top four in the Eastern Conference would read like this:
The Bulls and Magic are the only teams on that list who were also top teams last season. Still considered a playoff team, the Boston Celtics aren’t even in the top eight at this point, and conspicuously missing from the top four is the Miami Heat, who are sixth overall in the Eastern Conference.
The Miami Heat were this season’s favorites for winning the NBA Championship. Many felt that the improved chemistry between Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh would be too much for any team to overcome in a seven-game series.
Miami currently has an 8-4 record. That record could just as easily be 6-6 had close games against the Charlotte Bobcats and the Minnesota Timberwolves gone differently on the last possessions. Three of those four losses have come by way of the three-game losing streak they are currently looking to break.
The Heat have had some impressive wins this season, but this losing streak along with the recent injury to Wade have things looking pretty shaky for the foreseeable future. Miami needs all three of their stars to be completely healthy in order to make that ultimate statement that will erase the memory of losing in last year’s NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.
Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls offer a complete contrast to the Miami Heat early on in this season.
Chicago is 11-2, which is good enough for best record in the NBA—a feat they accomplished last season as well. The multiple injuries that plagued the Bulls last season are present already, but those injuries haven’t seemed to slow Chicago down.
One reason might be because the injuries are not to their frontcourt anchors of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. That means the Bulls still have versatile big men to complement Rose’s perimeter play.
Guards Richard Hamilton and CJ Watson are key support players with injuries listed as day-to-day; however, Tom Thibodeau is confident that both players will be back soon.
The Bulls lost one early on to the Golden State Warriors (who have beaten the Heat) before rattling off six straight wins before losing again to the Atlanta Hawks (who have also beaten the Heat). And while Miami is looking to get break back into the win column, Chicago is rolling again, getting a road win against the Boston Celtics last night for their fourth straight victory.
The Bulls have won with a formula similar to last year, with stifling defense and immense depth. Luol Deng has been playing at an All-Star level and Derrick Rose has been a much better facilitator by letting things develop as opposed to just breaking down the defense and passing to an open player.
Even though they are still a little short-handed, the Bulls give a complete team effort night after night.
The Miami Heat still seem to be looking for that cohesion with their big three. Even more, the supporting players also seem to be looking for an identity that can fit in with the larger-than-life games of Wade, James and Bosh.
This three-game losing streak is actually nothing new to the current Miami core. Last season, the Heat posted three different losing streaks of three, four and five games. Those losses, however, were still attributed to the newness of the team. This season was supposed to be the season where the three veterans worked out those kinks and blazed through their competition.
Will Miami get it together and finish hot?
Will Chicago continue to stampede the competition?
The way things look now, Chicago is the team to beat in the East. It will be interesting to watch how the rest of this season unfolds.
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