Miami Heat edge out the Chicago Bulls in 97 – 93 thriller – NBA Recap (Part 2)
Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls came out after the break with renewed vigour for a battle that had enchanted the American Airlines Arena crowd. Whilst the first half had been a relatively high scoring affair, both sides bumped up their defensive efforts after the interval, resulting in a cagey third period.
The teams matched each other all the way and went into the final period with a gap of 5 points, Miami in the ascendency.
The Heat might have started the 4th better to take their lead into double digits, but the Bulls charged back with a 13 – 2 run to level the scores at 84 – 84. Miami soon got their noses in front again at 94 – 86, a 10 – 2 run to credit.
Chicago weren’t going down either though and had another furious rally to take the score to 94 – 93, just 1 behind with 49 seconds left to play. The decisive moments of the game then saw a strange turn, as first Bulls talisman Derrick Rose missed two free throws that would have given his side the lead, and then Miami super star LeBron James misfired from the charity stripe as well to leave the game hanging in the balance.
Chris Bosh had to step up in the end to sink his free throws and give Miami the win at 97 – 93.
Rose was very displeased with himself after the game and believed he was to blame for the loss as he had missed the crucial free throws.
"It was definitely tough. ...I've been in those situations before and knocked them down. But to miss both, I let my team down. The only thing I can do is learn from it." He said.
His teammate Joakim Noah though defended the super star,
"Derrick has always been someone who's his biggest critic," Noah said. "He takes losses very hard. He wouldn't be the competitor that he is if he weren't. At the end of the day, we have his back. I'll go to war with him any day.”
Heat star Dwyane Wade summed up the common reaction to Rose and LeBron’s misses at the death,
"I couldn't believe he missed both," Wade said of Rose. "I couldn't believe LeBron missed both, either. Averaged itself out, I guess."
LeBron though got away with it because his teammates stepped up. Apart from the free throws at the end, James had a perfect showing tonight with a double-double of 35 points and 11 rebounds, as well as 5 assists.
Chris Bosh also had an impressive display with 24 points and 12 boards while Dwyane scored 15 and laid on 7 assists.
If tonight’s game was any indication, the playoffs in the Eastern Conference are going to be a very interesting affair.
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