Frustration gets to Chicago Bulls as Miami Heat put them in a 2-1 hole in Eastern Conference Finals
During the game-3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls centre Joakim Noah was not the only player, who let his emotions get the better of him.
Luol Deng, the Bulls small forward, also had another rough final quarter.
Deng scored just two points one a 1-of-4 shooting in the final 12 minutes as he saw his opposite number LeBron James blow away at the other end. Deng later blamed himself for getting annoyed over some of the calls that referee gave against the Bulls in their 96-85 loss against Miami Heat.
On Monday, he said, ‘‘some of the calls got to me a little bit. I’ve got to do a better job of not allowing that. I felt there were some calls we should have gotten that we didn’t. That’s how it goes sometimes.’’
During the game Chicago was called for 24 fouls while Miami received 17. The foul difference resulted in a point differential of 29-21 in favour of the Heat, which ultimately proved crucial in the end. Even though, the Bulls have said nothing officially, they were visibly perturbed by some of the decision that the officials made.
In the first quarter Deng was called for a foul when LeBron James was going for a three-pointer, after which Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had a animated discussion with referee Steve Javie during the time-out. This discussion worked for the Bulls because when the play resumed Javie called a foul on Miami’s Mike Miller on a board.
Deng said, ‘‘I saw the replay [of the foul against James]. I’ll just let everyone be their own judge. I don’t think the refs are favouring one side, but I don’t think if I shot that three and [James] hit me that I would have gotten the call. But that’s not where you win or lose the game. That’s just part of the game.’’
The Bulls have found it very difficult to topple the Miami Heat in this series. Throughout the regular season, they dominated not only the Heat but more or less all the teams. Defense has been their forte under the coach Tom Thibodeau, but now they are up against a team that is beating them at their own game. The frustrations are only the natural outcome, but, if the Bulls are to have any chance of making a comeback in the series, they will have to get over their emotion and play the game hard.
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