Miami Heat: 5 Ways the Heat Can Defeat the Chicago Bulls in the Next 4 Games

While many people thought that the Miami Heat may steamroll through the playoffs without losing a single game, the Chicago Bulls had other ideas.

I expected the Heat to lose to the Bulls at some point, but I didn't expect that game to be in Miami, and I didn't expect that to be a game where Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich were out with injuries. 

The Bulls have always been a team to give the Heat fits, yet somehow Miami looked like they were caught completely off-guard by the Bulls' performance. After the Bulls ended the Heat's 27-game win streak, you would think the Heat would have shown up with a vengeance, but they did anything but that.

So far, everything from rust to LeBron James's shoes have been blamed for the Miami Heat's shocking loss. Here are five ways that the Heat can right the ship and oust the Bulls in the next four games. 

5. Involve Chris Andersen More

In the first three games against the Milwaukee Bucks, Chris Andersen averaged over 10 points a game while the Heat averaged 104. Since then, Andersen has only attempted three shots, and the Heat have scored just 88 and 86 points in their last two games.

What happened to Andersen's role in the offense? 

Admittedly, Andersen's "role" in the offense is generally the garbage man. He's the fifth option on the floor and generally only gets the ball when he's left unguarded. Maybe it's time to change that.

Andersen has shown he is not a liability on offense and it's time to trust him a little more. Forcing him the ball won't work, but getting him the ball in the post can only help.

He has an opportunity to get the Bulls' big men in foul trouble, and the Heat need to exploit that. 

4. Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers Need to Show Up

Where the heck were Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers on Monday night?

They shot a combined 4-of-15 from the field and looked out of sync all night. Both players repeatedly passed up open looks and hesitated on the shots they took. 

To add to their struggles, Chalmers only shot 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

These guys will improve, they're too good not to. However, while Chalmers struggled, Norris Cole absolutely thrived in Game 1. If Chalmers continues his struggles, Cole could start eating up his minutes sooner rather than later.

As for Bosh, there's no guy on the Heat roster who will eat into his minutes. Bosh just needs to hit his open looks, plain and simple.

No play illustrated it better than when Bosh had an open look in the final minute while matched up with Joakim Noah. Instead of shooting it, he pump faked twice. Noah even bit on one of those fakes, yet Bosh failed to go up and draw the foul on Noah. Then when Bosh went up the third time, he bricked the shot miserably.

If Bosh and Chalmers improve, the Heat can win easily.

3. The Heat Must Make Their 3-Pointers

After shooting 40 percent from deep this season, the Heat shot just 29 percent from long range in Game 1. 

It wasn't that the shots were contested, actually, in most cases they weren't. The Heat simply couldn't get them to drop. 

Miami launched 24 three-pointers and only made seven. Had they made 10, which their season average would dictate, that likely would have given them the edge they needed to defeat the Bulls in Game 1. 

To fix this, Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers need to step up. At the same time, Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh need to rely on their sharp shooters and not force shots from outside.

Wade's three-point attempt in the final minutes was absolutely awful. That ball didn't belong in his hands. 

The Heat just need to return to their normal long-range shooting, and that will make all the difference.

2. Guard Nate Robinson

The Heat rarely struggle to guard superstars. When a team has a superstar, the Heat throw LeBron James at him and dare him to outplay him. 

It's the role players that kill the Heat. Nate Robinson has been a role player almost his entire career, but this Chicago Bulls team is handing him the reins and asking him to lead.

So far, he's done an amazing job. Yet, in Game 1, the Heat showed Robinson almost no respect. The Bulls' guard tore the Heat up to the tune of 27 points and nine assists. The only time he wasn't dominating the Heat was when he had to leave the game to receive stitches after a collision with James. 

The Heat likely won't put James on Robinson, unless it gets to the point of desperation, which means that Chalmers and Cole will need to step their defense up. Chalmers was giving up way too much space to Robinson, allowing him to drain three three-pointers. When Robinson wasn't draining threes, he was using that space to drive into the lane and draw fouls. 

The plan to guard Robinson should be two-fold. First, don't allow him any open three by guarding him more closely. The downfall of that is that Robinson will likely to get into the lane more often. However, every player on the Heat's roster is bigger than Robinson. Their bigs need to pick up Robinson when he gets into the lane and alter his shots without fouling. 

Maybe it's easier said than done, as it usually is, but the Heat must alter their game plan when it comes to Robinson because ignoring him is not working.

1. Derrick Rose Returns

Did you all see how excited Derrick Rose was on the bench as the Bulls outlasted the Heat on Monday night?

He was jumping up and down, running down the court to congratulate his teammates and looking mentally ready for game play.

Being mentally ready doesn't mean Rose is ready, but it'd be a major hurdle for him to overcome. 

The Heat want Rose to play. They really do. Conversely, I'm not sure the Bulls want Rose to play. After Game 1, why would they?

Thus far in 2012-2013, the Heat are 2-3 against the Bulls without Rose. In 2011-2012, the Bulls were 1-1 against the Heat when Rose played. In those games, Rose shot 12-of-41, an awful 29 percent clip. In games Rose didn't play in, the Bulls were also 1-1. 

Going back to 2010-2011, the Bulls were 4-4 against the Heat in games that Rose played. All four of those losses came in the playoffs, where Rose shot 42-of-120, a terrible 35 percent. 

In my opinion, the Heat match up better with the Bulls when Rose is jacking up the majority of the shots. Add in the fact that he hasn't played a game in over a year, and I think the Heat could benefit greatly from his return. 

Yeah, the Bulls would get an emotional lift from Rose's return, but in the end, emotions can only get you so far.