Bulls go cold against Heat in 103-74 loss

This was Latin Night at the United Center, so the home team wore special "Los Bulls" jerseys.

The shirts should have read "Loss Bulls," because they were absolutely stomped by the Miami Heat on Thursday.

Considering this was a must-win game for the Bulls, playing at home, against a team just 31/2 games ahead of them in the standings, this was about as miserable an effort imaginable.

The Bulls fell behind by 30 at halftime and limped home with an alarming 103-74 loss. There was no explanation for the home team other than getting thoroughly outplayed from the opening tip.

"They let us know how the playoffs would be if we were in it," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. "They really punched us in the mouth tonight."

At halftime, the Bulls trailed 63-33, and the game may not have been as close as the score indicated. Miami shot 60.5 percent from the field, the Bulls 27.9 percent.

All this happened with Heat star Dwyane Wade scoring a meager 8 points and Miami knocking down exactly 1 basket from 3-point range in the first half.

"I think we took the wind out of them early by how well we played," Wade said. "Sometimes in this league, you understand it ain't your night. I think they understood we weren't going to be denied and every time they made a run, we made ours right back and kept the lead up."

The game plan of Heat coach Eric Spoelstra and his coaching staff was flawless. Miami (38-34) exploited individual matchups - Quentin Richardson dominated Flip Murray in the post three times in less than three minutes - and scored with ease whenever the Bulls tried to trap the pick-and-roll.

On the other end, the Heat packed defenders into the paint, refusing to give Derrick Rose any room to drive.

Of course, it didn't help that the Bulls were ice cold from the outside. Rose, Murray, Kirk Hinrich, Jannero Pargo and Acie Law were a combined 12-for-44 from the field (27.2 percent).

"We didn't have enough fight in us tonight, that's the disappointing part," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We beat each other up more in practice the last couple of days than we did against our opponent tonight."

This result doesn't eliminate the Bulls (33-38) from playoff contention. They trail Toronto by 21/2 games and the Raptors have some tough games coming up. But the Bulls have very little margin for error with just 11 games remaining in the regular season.

"To lose this way at this point in the season is tough," center Joakim Noah said. "But we've got to keep our heads up and forget about this one and just move forward."

Wade finished with 12 points and 10 assists. Once again, the Bulls made Miami center Jermaine O'Neal look like an all-star with 24 points in 241/2 minutes. O'Neal has scored 20 or more points nine times all season and three have come against the Bulls.

The Bulls scored a season-low 74 points. Their leading scorer was Hakim Warrick with 14 points, while Gibson produced 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"There's no explanation. We had good practices. We were well-prepared," Del Negro added. "We just had one of those nights. We had no answers for what they were doing and we weren't able to attack them in any way, offensively or defensively, which is frustrating because we have in the past - very well, actually."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Heat 103, Bulls 74</p>

<p class="News"><b>Think positive:</b> It would be easy to pile on the Bulls after they barely registered a pulse while falling behind by 30 points at halftime against Miami. But there were some encouraging signs. For example, when the Heat went ahead by 39 points, the Bulls put together a run and never let the lead hit 40.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Wade rests:</b> For the fourth time this season, the Bulls held Dwyane Wade below his season scoring average. The Chicago-area native finished with 12 points, 10 assists and obviously took a very early seat Thursday.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Net gain:</b> There's no time to worry about this loss. On Saturday, the Bulls have a revenge game against New Jersey on the slate. The Nets may be 8-63 on the season, but they are 1-0 against the Bulls.</p>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=368750">Lopsided loss means little playing for Noah<span class="date"> [3/25/10]</span></a></li>

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