How the Heat stunned the Bulls
As epic collapses go, Thursday’s 18-3 meltdown against Miami probably ranks second in Bulls history behind the 1973 slide against the L.A. Lakers.
The ’73 version was worse because it happened in Game 7 of the conference finals and spoiled a great chance for the Jerry Sloan-Bob Love Bulls to visit the Finals.
In the latest version, the Bulls led 77-65 with 3:14 remaining after a Ronnie Brewer free throw. Miami finished the game on that 18-3 run to win the Eastern Conference finals in throw-a-shoe-at-your-flat-screen fashion.
For anyone ready to blow up this Bulls roster, remember this group outplayed the star-studded Heat two games in a row, except for an overtime and final three minutes of the fourth quarter. They should be leading the series 3-2 right now with a single made basket or defensive stop in both games, and that doesn’t even consider the officiating, which we’ll explore later.
For those whose mouths are filled with the putrid stench of disgust because the annoying Heat did this at the United Center, just imagine Miami losing to Dallas in the Finals, then dropping a rematch against the Bulls next year.
You’ll feel better.
For anyone still wondering what the heck even happened, here’s a breakdown. The Heat hit tough shots, but the Bulls also gave it away with bad mistakes:
Bulls 77-65, 3:14 remaining: Miami’s comeback started with Dwyane Wade (was he hurt, not hurt?) hitting a tough running jumper. Lead down to 10, no big deal.
The first of several Bulls mistakes was a bad pass by Derrick Rose. He dribbled into the lane and tried to thread a pass to Taj Gibson. Bad idea, because the ball was deflected, stolen and Wade finished a fastbreak layup with a phantom foul called on Rose, but Wade missed the free throw.
A common mistake in this series was the Bulls trying to make difficult passes. Threading the needle is a bad idea against a team with Miami’s defensive quickness, and the Bulls turned it over many times this way.
Bulls 77-69, 2:36 remaining: On the next possession Rose made a better pass to Gibson, who rose confidently for a baseline jumper he knocks down often. This one was well short, perhaps because Gibson didn’t get many shot opportunities in Game 5. He finished 0-of-3 with no points. They needed Kurt Thomas to shoot that one.
The Bulls followed that up with a bad defensive mistake. Brewer, who had been guarding LeBron James, picked up Wade, who pushed the ball upcourt. James was the last Heat player to jog down the floor and Rose, waiting in the lane, didn’t recognize quickly enough that James was the free man. The result was a wide-open 3-point look.
At this point, James was 5-for-15 from the field and hadn’t scored a basket since the 10:41 mark of the second quarter. As Tom Thibodeau always says, “Don’t give a good shooter confidence.”
Bulls 77-72, 2:07 remaining: Following a timeout, Rose takes James into the lane, spins and hits a nice one-hander to stretch the lead to 7. But Rose follows with a costly mistake. He taps Wade’s elbow as the fellow Chicago native throws in a line-drive 3-pointer. The 4-point play trims the lead to 3.
Bulls 79-76, 1:30 remaining: Now here’s where the Heat’s comeback should have ended. Rose drove past James into the lane, was bumped from behind and missed the shot.
Let’s backtrack to earlier in the fourth quarter when the Heat was struggling to keep contact with the surging Bulls. James drove into the lane, met with minimal resistance, but drew the foul and shot 2 free throws. Rose gets into the lane, is bumped harder by James and gets no call.
The Bulls blew chances to wrap up victories in Games 4 and 5, but probably would have won both with ease had they played by the same set of rules as Miami’s stars. Rose went to the rim far more than James, yet the King ended up shooting 11 free throws to Rose’s 6 in Game 5. This might be the most troubling issue as the Bulls try to find a way to beat the Heat, a tough one to solve.
After Rose’s miss, James dribbled to the left wing and Udonis Haslem set a screen on Luol Deng. Haslem’s man was Thomas, who hung back and didn’t step out to contest the shot. Another wide-open look. Game tied.
Tied 79-79, 1:01 remaining: Miami traps Rose on the next possession and the Bulls are ready for it. They have Thomas flaring out for an open spot-up jumper, and he’s knocked down 2 already in the fourth quarter.
But Rose isn’t careful, tries to throw over James and the pass is deflected, then stolen. James isolates against Brewer, the Bulls choose not to send help and James drains a 19-footer from the top of the key.
Heat 81-79, 29.5 seconds remaining: Those who say Rose was tired or was smothered by James’ defense should realize that it took less than three seconds for Rose to blow past James and draw enough contact for the whistle to blow.
Rose hit the first, but missed the second. For the second game in a row, Rose missed a vital free throw. In Game 4, he could have put the Bulls up by 1 with 1:10 left and neither team scored the rest of the way.
After Thomas nearly made a miracle backcourt steal, Chris Bosh drained 2 free throws with 16.8 seconds on the clock. The Bulls had plenty of time to go for a 2-point shot, but got bogged down looking for a 3 and Rose ended up having to force a shot at the buzzer that was blocked.
The Bulls had Gibson and Thomas on the floor with Deng, Korver and Rose. Maybe another shooter like C.J. Watson would have helped, but Thomas can set good screens and hit 3-pointers. It just didn’t work out.
Overall, the Bulls’ defense did a remarkable job against Miami’s stars in this series. The Bulls gave up 85 points or less in regulation time in four of the five contests. That’s a winning performance.
The biggest differences were Bosh knocking down most every jumper and the Heat getting big games from Haslem and Mike Miller, who contributed almost nothing all season.
Miami’s plus-28 edge in free throw attempts during the final two games might have helped just a little.