Luol Deng hounds LeBron James to lift the Chicago Bulls in game-1 of the Eastern Conference Finals
Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng has outplayed the opposition on countless number of occasions this season and that’s the reason why the Bulls were not surprised at what he did to Miami Heat in game-1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.
Deng was exceptional on the night. He made big plays, dominated the glass and created open spaces. However, he did one thing that not many in the league have been able to do so far in the last seven something years. He hounded LeBron James, arguably the best player in the league.
The result was that the Bulls routed the Heat by 103-82. The Bulls were once again led by Derrick Rose, who did what he is good at. But, in the end it was Deng, who made all the difference.
Deng scored 21 points, clutched seven rebounds and made four steals and at the same time he limited LeBron James to just 15 points on a 5-of-15 shooting from the field.
Chicago's power forward Carlos Boozer said, "That's Luol Deng. He's an unsung hero for us. He should have been an All-Star this season. It's a normal game for Lu. He plays most of the other teams' best player — or second-best player, whatever the case may be. He scores for us, hits big shots in the clutch for us, rebounds the ball, is a great leader out there, always inspiring us. Luol needs to get more love."
This performance has really boosted Deng’s confidence, but he didn’t dismiss the Heat as he is familiar that Miami is one of those team that can bounce back even after going down 2-0 in the series.
On Sunday the Bulls out-rebounded the Heat 45-33 and outplayed them 31-8 on second chance points too. Miami also got thrashed on the glass and their strategy of beating the Bulls through the dribbles didn’t work either, it will be better if they opt to move the ball more in game-2.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said, "Everybody understands that we are disappointed about last night's game, and we still have an opportunity and sometimes you have to have amnesia going into Game 2. You can't just let it go, the next 2½ days we're going to work to fix some of these challenges that we had last night. But we still have to understand Wednesday is a golden opportunity for us."
Miami’s chances would definitely be better if James and Dwyane Wade break free in the next game. James scored just 15 points while Wade had 18 for the Heat and Deng was responsible for it.
Deng is a key piece for his coach Tom Thibodeau as he can hold both ends. During the regular-season Deng was averaging 17.4 points per game while at the same time he often guarded top players of the opponents. It was because of his outstanding performances throughout the season that coach Thibodeau explicitly endorsed Deng for National Basketball Association's All-Defensive Team. Although he got votes from different coaches, but failed to receive a first or second-team recognition.
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