2011 NBA Playoffs: How the Chicago Bulls Can Keep Their Playoff Hopes Alive

After suffering three losses in a row to the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls hope that a little home-cooking can contribute to saving their season—and ultimately keeping their championship hopes alive.

During their current three-game losing streak, the Chicago Bulls have been getting beat at their own game—executing down the stretch. The Heat have been playing better defense during the final five minutes of games—the point where the Bulls have been giving games away—and have been executing more efficiently on the offensive side as well.

The Bulls need to have someone else ready and willing to help take over late in the game so Rose won't have to put up bad shots usually heavily contested or blocked by LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.

Case-in-point: the Bulls had the ball with about eight seconds to go in the fourth quarter of Game 4 with the game tied. The Bulls came out of a timeout and ran an isolation play with Rose being guarded by the much bigger LeBron James, not giving Rose any help to get James off of him, leading to a bobbled shot that failed to draw iron all the while Luol Deng was wide open just behind Rose at the top of the key with an open shot opportunity that never happened.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is squarely to blame for this—who has been out-coached by Miami's coach Eric Spoelstra during late-game-situations. There's no way that the Bulls should have came out of a timeout without a better play drawn up.

My hope is that coach Thibodeau worked on some late-game plays during the practices leading up to Game 5, having the Bulls better prepared to win a close game that is bound to happen on Thursday night in Chicago.

Another key to a Bulls victory in Game 5 will be Derrick Rose shooting a better percentage from the field and form beyond the arch.  Rose's percentages are down to 36 percent from the field and 21 percent from three-point land—down from 42 percent from the field and 29 percent from three during the regular season and post season combined.

Of course, the Heat's improved defense has a lot to do with Rose's percentage drop, but Rose passing it off instead of chucking terrible shots will do the Bulls more good than harm even though the ball will be out of Roses hands during critical points in the game.

Another player that has been called-out on the entire series is Kyle Korver.

Korver was a big piece in the Bulls previous playoff series wins over the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks, but has yet to show up in a meaningful way against Miami so far. Korver is averaging a dismal 3.5 points per game in the Miami series, and having Korver come out and hit his momentum shifting threes could prove a turning point in this series.

With Carlos Boozer showing up for the past two games, all the talk down low has been deferred to Joakim Noah. Ever since he made headlines for yelling a homophobic slur at a Miami fan, his offensive game has went down the drain.

After scoring nine points in each of the first two games, Noah has scored a combined seven points between Games 3 and 4. If Noah can score around that nine point margin and the Bulls continue to see Boozer show up on Thursday night, the chances the Bulls win go up significantly.

Thursday night will see of this year's Chicago Bulls are the real deal or nothing but hot air being blown in the Windy City.