2011 NBA Playoffs: Why the Bulls Will Cruise Past the Heat and into the Finals

Before the start of the highly anticipated matchup of the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night, Las Vegas had Miami favored to win the series.

Anyone who followed the odds-makers and put their money on the Heat must feel pretty stupid right now.

The Bulls' 103-82 dismantling of the Heat in Game 1 was a preview of the rest of this series.

So how exactly were those odds-makers so wrong?

Maybe they highly underestimated the No. 1 overall seed in these playoffs. Maybe they went with the hype surrounding the "Big Three."

No matter the reason, the Bulls proved once and for all that they truly are the best team left in the playoffs.

Tom Thibodeau's defensive strategy worked to perfection, holding LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to a combined 33 points. Both players never had an easy path to the basket and had to settle for contested jump shots.

That's extremely uncharacteristic for two of the league's best slashers.

However, the most glaring advantages that Chicago has over Miami—depth and rebounding—were on display Sunday night at the United Center. Those are two areas which don't have quick fixes.

Those two facets of the game were indeed the catalysts behind Chicago's Game 1 performance. It must be unsettling for the "Big Three" who came together for the sole purpose of winning a championship.

Heat head coach didn't offer any solutions for Game 2 and said that his team "took it on the chin" following Sunday night's game.

If Taj Gibson's posterizing dunk over Dwyane Wade was a symbol of Chicago's continuing dominance over Miami this season, then LeBron, Wade and Co. should start planning their early exit strategy.