Derrick Rose scored 26 points as the Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat for the second time this season, with the final score 93-89. The Heat led much of the game, Dwyane Wade scored 34 points and LeBron James added 29. But the Bulls went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter to take control, and Chicago was able to stop two Miami comeback attempts.
Heat Vs. Bulls: Derrick Rose, Luol Deng Eclipse LeBron James, Dwyane Wade In Chicago Win
The final Heat run at the game left the scored tied at 89 with 16 seconds. Luol Deng, who had 18 in the second half and 20 for the game, capitalized on all the attention Rose had drawn.
LeBron actually guarded Rose rather well -- something that’s very difficult to do -- while refusing to bite on his sharp crossovers. Rose had no shot on goal as he moved toward the basket, but Wade came in off of Deng nonetheless. From there, that’s a pass Rose won’t miss. He’s great playmaker, and made a great play to set up a clean look for a solid shooter. Deng does the rest.
Carlos Boozer had 16 points on 7-12 shooting, and thoroughly dominated his counterpart Chris Bosh, who shot -- get this -- 1-18 on the night. One make in 18 attempts. I guess you could credit Bosh with refusing to stop shooting -- he took at least four shots in each quarter -- and he did pick up nine rebounds, one behind LeBron for the team high. But 1-18? That goes down as the most prolifically bad shooting night of the year. No one in the past two decades has taken 18 or more shots and made one or fewer. Only 19 other times since 1990-91 has a player shot 15 times and made zero or one, most recently Stephen Jackson (1-16) last year. Confidence in the face of incredible failure. That's something.
The Bulls have a tiebreaker over the Heat now by virtue of the regular season series, which Chicago leads 2-0. But the Heat remain two games ahead of the Bulls in the standings, meaning that Miami would still get the easier first-round foe (in theory) and home court advantage in a second-round matchup.
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