2011 NBA Playoffs: Running Blog of Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat

7:10 pm

Game starts in 20 minutes, I'm getting ready to yell at the television every time the Bulls miss a layup, Derrick Rose forces a shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, and the referees show why we can never be sure if this sport is clean.

But hey, at least we don't have to listen to Jeff van Gundy tonight.

The keys for the Bulls winning this game are very simple. Fundamentals!!! Make your free throws and don't turn the ball over, the two easiest things to do. Each loss has been close and the Bulls would have won with better free throw shooting. The turnovers are creating really easy fastbreak opportunities for the Heat.

Everyone counting the Bulls out clearly have not watched these games at all. The Bulls have outplayed the Heat in three of the four games. They lost one due to bad free throw shooting, and another because they couldn't close a game out for various reasons. However, game four was a terrible game to watch. The obvious disparity in foul calls against the Bulls was ridiculous and must beg the question, "Are the Heat going to make the finals no matter what?" They are the clear-cut best team for ratings. Does that mean the Commish has already determined the Heat will be in the finals? Watch this "flagrant foul" and tell me it was actually flagrant. I've had worse happen to me in rec leagues, high school, and college with no call made, let alone a flagrant.

12:00 Tip off

The Heat win the tip, a very ugly tip. Hopefully the only thing they win tonight.

11:25 Bulls up 2-0

Rose gets a nice offensive rebound and puts it back in.

Deng with a long two, they really need him to step up and take the scoring pressure of Rose.

10:50 Bulls up 4-0

Mike Bibby with a closely guarded off balance jumper, that's the type of shots the Bulls need to stay away from. 

Just like that it seems Rose heard me and jacked up a three for no reason.

Lebron James with a long two, the Bulls should let him shoot that all game.

9:00 Bulls up 6-4.

Rose, while being held, with another offensive board and put back.

Keith Bogans with a smart foul on Dwyane Wade after a steal. They can't give the Heat easy fastbreak points.

8:00 Heat up 8-6

Carlos Boozer misses an easy layup. This is what I warned Chicago fans about!! Big men missing easy layups.

6:07 Heat up 12-6

The Bulls take a timeout after the Heat get on a couple fast breaks and the Bulls offense is stagnant.

5:45 Heat up 12-8

Keith Bogans drives and makes a tough layup against some solid, legal, defense. The Bulls need to get some offense from somewhere other than Rose.

5:23 Heat up 12-8

Rose gets called for an obvious travel, James better get called the next times he travels. I know that's just wishful thinking.

4:40 Heat up 12-10

The Bulls have eight of their ten points on second chance shots after Deng gets his own rebound.

4:22 Heat up 15-10

Joel Anthony drive on Carlos "the Turnstile" Boozer for a three point play. If Boozer can't stop Anthony from scoring, he can't stop anyone.

3:48 Heat up 15-14

After a nice move by Jokim Noah, Deng makes a nice steal and slams it over James and a foul. Deng missed the free throw, and it begins. The Bulls are not a good free throw shooting team, but they can't afford to shoot poorly with the season on the line like they have the previous games.

1:00 Bulls up 25-18

A recent offensive burst by the Bulls and some impressive defense have given the Bulls a solid lead in the last minute of the quarter. The combination of Rose and Deng have 19 of the 25 points. Rose just had a beautiful block of Mario Chalmers.

0:00 Bulls up 25-21

James makes a three with a couple seconds left and Rose just misses a half court launch. I have no problem letting James take that shot. He's a terrible shooter, and the more you keep him out of the lane the better.

End of the first quarter.

If the Bulls can keep up the defensive pressure and force the Heat to make jumpshots, the Bulls will win this game. The Bulls need Boozer to show up somewhere, get a rebound, make a shot, draw the defense.... anything. Rose and Deng aren't going to combine for 80 points tonight.

10:15 Bulls up 28-23

Kyle Korver hits a three, they need him to make some big shots. I'd also like to see Kurt Thomas get some 18 footers and make Anthony leave the paint.

9:11 Bulls up 30-25

James misses a three. I know he's shot pretty well so far, but this is the exact defense the Bulls need to play. Force them out of the paint and don't let them drive.

7:34 Bulls up 30-25

Multiple defensive stands and poor shooting by the Bulls have slowed the pace of the game so far. The Bulls have already taken nine three pointers, only making two.

7:05 Bulls up 33-25

The Bulls defense creates two fast break scores and causes a Heat timeout. It's always a good sign when the second squad can come in and increase the lead.

6:30 Bulls up 35-25

After the timeout the Bulls left the backups out there with Carlos Boozer to get some extra rest for the starters.

5:45 Bulls up 37-25

The Bulls force James into another ugly jump shot and James already has taken nine shots while Wade has five turnovers and only one field goal (but seven points).

4:20 Bulls up 37-29

The Bulls need to close out strong here, they can't allow the Heat to catch back up in the last four minutes.

3:39 Bulls up 39-32

After a bad Boozer shot (surprising, I know) the previously deceased Mike Miller nails a three and Boozer finds Deng for a nice layup but he got fouled.

2:55 Bulls up 39-34

Mike Miller with another bucket, if the Heat can get solid, consistent production from him going forward they will be a tough team to beat. For now, he's still coming back from multiple injuries and is dealing with obvious off-court distractions.

The Bulls were up twelve, and now only up five. They are trying to give this game back in typical Chicago fashion. There's a huge mental difference between a double digit lead and anything less.

2:30 Bulls up 43-34

Wade takes an ugly off balance shot and Rose finds Deng for a nice open three. Right back down the court Noah blocks James!  The Heat aren't even on pace to score 80 this game.

1:19 Bulls up 43-38

Deng picks up his third foul, I hope that doesn't become an issue at the end of the game.

.59 Bulls up 45-38

With another Bulls put back Ronnie Brewer is quietly having an excellent game. He's played great defense and added a little offense too.

.34 Bulls up 45-38

Boozer picks up his third foul and even Steve Kerr can't figure out where the foul was. This better not be the beginning of "the fix." Luckily Anthony missed both of his shots.

10.6 Bulls up 45-38

James dribbles around and shoots an off balance jumper, perfect defense in that situation and a back iron miss. Bulls go into the half with a seven point lead. I'm comfortable, but I'd be a lot more comfortable if it was a double digit lead.

At least we get Charles Barkley to entertain us and make fun of Kenny Smith. How many times will we get to hear "that's turrible"?

Start of the third quarter

10:40 Bulls up 47-40

The Bulls really need to stop falling for pump fakes. They are getting unneeded fouls and giving up easy layups by jumping every time.

8:45 Bulls up 47-42

Boozer misses another inside shot and then gets blocked next possession. They would be much better off by having Gibson playing right now. Gibson adds energy and great defense.

7:41 Bulls up 50-42

Bogans hits Rose for a much needed three. The play before Bogans goaded Wade into an offensive foul. A very solid game for Bogans so far. Rose really needs to get his jumper going he's just 5-14 from the field.

6:30 Bulls up 52-44

Two strong moves in a row, one by Wade resulting in a foul (missing the free throw) and one by Rose over Bosh right back down the court.

3:42 Bulls up 58-47

The Bulls are extending their lead, yet all Reggie Miller is talking about is Lebron James winking skills. And Steve Kerr just asked the real question. "The Bulls are playing really well, can they finish the quarter strong and into the fourth quarter?"

As I sit down in my couch and pop open a Summer Shandy (Which they should really sell all year, not just in the summer) I begin to wonder what Chicago would be like if the Bulls had won at least one of the games that they let go. (Or were stolen from them.) Chicago is such a great sports town and we love our teams, usually too much. But for Rose to win MVP and a championship at such a young age, and for him to be OUR superstar means so much more. It's just disappointing that such a nationwide hated team HAS to be playing deep into the playoffs. I do agree, however, that the storylines this season have been very intriguing. If nothing else, Leinenkugel can give me advertising revenue.

2:24 Bulls up 58-49

James drives and draws another flagrant foul against Boozer. You would think he'd have learned from the last game that you can't touch the "superstars."

1:45 Bulls up 58-50

Another technical foul on the Bulls, this time Taj Gibson. This is just ridiculous. I'll admit, the foul on James was hard but nothing harder than what Rose faced against the Pacers in the first round resulting in no technicals. And now Gibson gets called for one for "reacting" which wasn't anywhere near how Wade or James react when called for a foul. I hate to say it again, but something just doesn't seem right. It's really tough for a team to play their best when they know they have to play perfect to even stay in the game, which is exactly what happened in the last game.

:30 Bulls up 60-55

The Bulls were just up 11, and now their lead is down to five. An 11 point lead with 12 minutes left is tough to overcome, but this will be a hotly contested game to the end.

End of the Third

Bulls up 62-57

Bosh hits a shot from the corner on a James travel, I mean assist. A great shot, but should never have counted as James took a full jump after picking up his dibble and pivoting so he could get the ball to Bosh in the corner.

I do not have a good feeling about this last quarter, and I hope the Bulls have more composure than I do.

Start of the 4th Quarter

Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau "We have to stay composed even when the calls aren't going our way." Even the NBA coach of the year knows what his team is up against.

8:40 Bulls up 69-59

Finally the Bulls get Kurt Thomas the ball with space and he knocks down a couple. That should open the paint a little bit for Rose to drive.

7:19 Bulls up 69-63

Bulls time out. Every time the Bulls start to pull away the Heat have a small run to keep it close. Coach Thibodeau has got to be frustrated with everything about this game. His team has played pretty well and the Heat have played poorly yet the Bulls are only up six. The Heat have shot 25 free throws to the Bulls 15 and the Bulls have been called for six more fouls. 

6:55 Bulls up 71-63

Ronnie Brewer with a huge shot. Time running out, Brewer bails out the stagnant offense. I'm guessing Thibodeau didn't go over offensive strategy during the timeout.

5:15 Bulls up 73-63

Wade takes the ball nearly uncontested, and seemingly got fouled. From the no call he waved his arms and complained to the refs. I think a foul would have been justified, but why give Gibson a tech for far less demonstrative actions and let Wade do whatever he wants? On the other hand, Wade needs to work on his dunking and layups he has missed an awful lot of gimmes this series.

3:53 Bulls up 76-64

Ronnie Brewer again! I'm not sure how many more times I can praise this guy. He's played great defense, as he usually does, and has had some very clutch offense tonight. Heat call timeout. It looks like the Bulls are going to sew this one up and pack their bags for Miami.

On a more disturbing note, only two Bulls are in double figures and neither of them is shooting particularly well. Rose has 22 and Deng has 18. Others of note, Boozer has 5 on 1-6 shooting and Brewer has 9 on 4-5 shooting.

3:30 Bulls up 76-65

Where this game hasn't made me more confident that the Bulls can pull off three wins in a row, it does reassert the team and shows the advantage in depth the Bulls have over the Heat. However, Rose has shot too much and too poorly and needs to find a way to be effective without jacking up 30 shots.

2:36 Bulls up 77-69

Wade draws the foul on a layup but botches the free throw. The Heat are a couple buckets and stops from being right back in this.

2:04 Bulls up 77-72

James knocks down a three to pull the Heat within five. It's situations like this that get the Bulls really tight and mentally fragile. If the Heat can put a little more pressure on them, this could go Miami's way. Also, if I'm a Miami fan..... where's Chris Bosh? Is he playing this quarter?

1:30 Bulls up 79-76

Rose has a great move, and then Wade takes a contested three and nails a great shot. However, a foul called allowing a four point play. There may have been a foul, but the whistle was blown after the ball already went in as if the refs were just watching the game rather than officiating it. As a Bulls fan, I'm watching this game under protest... again.

1:07 Game Tied at 79

After another terrible offensive possession by the Bulls James hits another three, he is clearly having the best shooting game of his life.

29.5 Heat up 81-79

James hits a jumper and now we get to see if the Bulls can muster up enough energy to score with the game on the line.

26.7 Heat up 81-80

Rose draws a foul, (finally) he's only had six free throws all game. With the game on the line, he makes one of two. The TNT announcers proceed to tear into his clutch factor. Now the fouling game begins.

16.8 Heat up 83-80

Bosh hits both shots and the Bulls go into their terrible offense and Rose throws up a prayer with no time left. Bulls lose after another monumental collapse and the NBA season has ended for the third biggest market in the USA. I hope you are happy Commish Stern, no one in Chicago will bother watching the NBA finals, especially knowing you had a hand in picking who got to play in it.

No I'm not bitter, if my team won this way I would be ashamed and displeased if my team handled itself the same way. I hate blaming the refs/umpires/judges etc, but it was a very one sided series from the start.

I just wish the Bulls would have risen to the challenge rather than shrinking and becoming frustrated. I can't blame them, I would have acted the same way.