Miami Heat rearing to have a go at the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals
When Miami Heat knocked out the big boys of the East, the Boston Celtics ,in the Eastern Conference semifinals, they sent a clear message to the rest of the league - the Heat are here to stay.
Now, they are rearing to have a go at the Bulls.
Keeping the Chicago Bulls’ sharp-shooting guard Derrick Rose in check will be the top priority for the Miami Heat, which at present seem like the only prerequisite lying between the Heat and the road to the NBA Finals. LeBron James
will do his best to guard Rose in the Eastern Conference finals. So will Dwyane Wade. And then there are the likes of Mike Bibby, Mario Chalmers Joel Anthony and even Chris Bosh. But one thing is sure, they will not let Rose play his game freely.
”We're not a team to concede anything. That's not our nature. We don't play basketball like that. We have too many guys that have too much pride to allow a guy individually to just go off. Like I've said, he's going to get his.
Their team is going to play well. But we're up for the challenge.'' James said.
The Heat have been showing glimpses of their potential all throughout the regular season. Now, after slaying the mighty Celts, they have finally established themselves as the team to beat in the East.
However taking on Rose may be their biggest challenge yet.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the league this season has been the commanding power for Chicago in the playoffs and has taken 29 percent of the team’s total shots. Derrick’s 256 attempts are almost as much as the total shots
of Bulls second and third best option Luol Deng (154) and Carlos Boozer (119). The 22-year-old guard has been extraordinarily instrumental on both the ends of the court in the post-season averaging 28.8 points, 8.2 assists and 4.50 rebounds.
“He's a phenomenal player. He's figured out how to be great in this league - fast. We know he's going to score. He's going to do amazing things. It's our job just to make sure that we make it tough on him as possible. He's the
MVP for a reason.” Dwyane Wade said.
Miami will be arriving at the united Centre on Sunday to face off Bulls in the game-1 of the series. Chicago finished with the honour of the league’s best team in the regular season and holds the best home-record as well which
is going to be a big advantage for them. The fact that the Bulls swept the Heat during the regular season will also give the home team a huge boost.
Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat coach said about Rose.
``He's a challenge, no question about it, because he puts so much overwhelming pressure in the paint, on your bigs, on your guards, gets players in foul trouble,'' Spoelstra said. ``We have an aggressive defense. We don't want
to back off on that, even with our ultimate respect for him as a playmaker and as an MVP.''
Beating Boston Celtics in the semi-finals was a major breakthrough for Miami Heat given that they struggled against the Celtics in the past four years. In the series against the C’s, Miami proved that their defence was a hard nut
to crack and given that Rose’s perimeter shooting was exposed in the series against the Atlanta Hawks, they will certainly hold an edge.
The contest is anticipated to be filled with sheer excitement and is one of the best matchups this post-season.
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