Miami Heat dominate Chicago Bulls, 96-85: NBA Play-off Finals Recap
Chris Bosh shot 13-of-18 and ended with 34 points, as the Miami Heat took a 2-1 series lead with a 96-85 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals on Sunday, May 22.
LeBron James finished with 22 points, 10 helpers and six boards for the Heat, who are 7-0 at home in the play-offs. Dwyane Wade scored 17 points and nine rebounds for the victors.
Miami’s Coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game, “There is definitely nothing easy in the finals. It is all about enduring, sustaining and finding a way to crank it out.”
Carlos Boozer chipped in 26 points and 17 boards for Chicago, which dropped straight contests for the first time since February 5-7. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 20 points, five rebounds and five helpers.
"It's definitely frustrating. Our will wasn't there tonight, where they still found a way to win playing good basketball. We just got to find a way to win the next game, "said Rose.
Game 4 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday in Miami.
The contest started out even as both teams were making shots. However, the Heat took an 18-15 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Miami tried to create some distance in the second period, but the Bulls responded every time. The Heat were ahead by as many as six points in the second quarter and held a 43-40 lead into the locker room.
Chicago used a 9-3 flurry early in the third period to take a 51-50 edge. However, Wade of Miami hit a free-throw that ceased the bleeding and tied things up. The Heat began to take control from there.
Miami made the first real run of the contest half-way through the third period, and it proved to be decisive. With the game evened at 53-53, Mike Bibby drained a three-point play to ignite a 7-0 spurt.
Moments later, the Heat forced both Luol Deng and Joakim Noah into straight offensive fouls. Bosh and Wade then drilled jumpers to put the Heat ahead by 60-53 with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulls trimmed their deficit to five points, 62-57, but Udonis Haslem of Miami hit consecutive jumpers to push the Heat’s lead to 66-57 with less than two minutes to play.
However, Chicago capped the quarter on an 8-2 flurry to keep the game close. Deng book-ended the run with two three-pointers to pull the Bulls by 68-65 at the end of the third period.
The Heat were up by as many as four points, 78-74, when they pulled the game away with a 9-0 burst with less than seven minutes left in the play. James closed out the run with a 3-pointer with less than six minutes remaining for an 87-74 edge. The lead never dipped below seven points from there.
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