Bulls vs. Heat: Epic NBA Matchup Is Eastern Conference Finals Preview
The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls will play each other on Sunday in a thrilling matchup of elite NBA teams, and this game will be a preview of this year's Eastern Conference Finals.
These two powers have the best records in the East, and only the Oklahoma City Thunder at 16-3 have a stronger record throughout the league.
The two teams met in last year's Eastern Conference Finals, with the Heat earning a five-game series win en route to the NBA Finals.
This season, the Bulls and Heat are once again the class of the East, and there aren't any teams good enough to prevent them from meeting in the playoffs.
The Boston Celtics, despite their recent winning streak, are not athletic enough to defeat the Heat or the Bulls in a seven game series. The New York Knicks don't play enough defense and have injuries to key players such as star forward Carmelo Anthony to worry about.
The Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers have been the surprise teams of the season, but neither squad has the reliable scoring or playoff experience needed to defeat the Bulls or Heat in the postseason.
None of the aforementioned teams have the depth, especially on the bench, to defeat the Bulls in a playoff series. Chicago has built a tremendous bench that has scoring, defense, veteran leadership and energy. They are also well coached by Tom Thibodeau and as a team play fantastic defense.
Both the Heat and Bulls are deep enough and have enough offensive firepower to be able to sustain injuries to key players and still win games against quality opponents.
This game will be a good measuring stick for both teams to see how good they really are at this stage of the season.
When these teams meet Sunday afternoon, basketball fans will be treated with a game of playoff-like atmosphere, but regular season bragging rights aren't a big deal to these players. Nothing that happens in this game will avenge last year's loss to the Heat for the Bulls.
Chicago and Miami will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals this May, and today's game will be a fantastic preview.
