Bulls vs. Heat: Miami Must Reign Victorious to Ensure Finals Berth

The Miami Heat will not be able to beat the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs if they lose to them on Thursday.

With a loss, they can all but forget about overtaking them for the East's No. 1 seed. They would be trailing by 3.5 games with just four left on the schedule. 

It is still a long shot that they would make up the required 1.5 games in that span, but it is certainly possible. And when two teams are this closely matched, home-court advantage can make all the difference in a seven-game series. 

The home team has won the three previous matchups this season. 

Still, that is not the most vital reason why the Heat must win. A loss would be too big a blow to a team that crumbled in the finals last season once doubt entered into their collective psyche.

As Dallas stood toe-to-toe with the Heat in last year's finals and the series moved on and the pressure cranked up, you could see the Heat's play wilting and LeBron James disappearing.

Dallas was able to force this disappearing act by planting seeds of doubt in the minds of the Heat, and Chicago will undoubtedly have planted some serious seeds if they win on Thursday.

Chicago's Seed Planting

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Eastern Conference powerhouses. Chicago currently has a 2-1 edge, and they have won the last two. 

Miami claimed their only victory on January 29th by a score of 97-93. These two didn't play again until March 14th when Chicago won 106-102. They played almost a month later, and Chicago took that one in overtime, 96-86, and, in that game, Derrick Rose was only able to play 25 minutes.

That game also featured an ending that was eerily reminiscent of their finals failure from a year ago as they were outscored 12-2 in the extra session.  

They cannot follow that up with a loss in this game. That would mean they would enter the playoffs having lost three straight to the Bulls with the last one of those coming at home. 

If that is the case, there will be one king in Miami and he will go by the name of "Doubt," not James.