NBA Eastern Conference Finals: Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat game-5 Preview – Part 1
The Miami Heat forward LeBron James is flying high in the Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls, hitting big shots and guarding the leading scorer of Chicago, Derrick Rose.
The Heat are leading the series 3-1 and another victory in Thursday’s game at the United Center means will thrust them into the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. After defeating the Bulls 101-93 in overtime game on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Arena, the Heat are all set to make their first trip to the NBA finals since 2006, where ironically they had taken on the Mavs.
Chicago’s defeat however extended their losing streak to three games, their longest since February 5-7. The Bulls never lost more than two in a row during the regular season.
King James scored a game-high 35 points and did a fantastic job in defending the league MVP in the last minutes of the overtime (O.T.), limiting him just a single point in the last 70 seconds of the game. The Heat forward Chris Bosh had 22 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field, while guard Dwyane Wade punctuated 14 points and five rebounds in the victory. Besides the 14-point spurt, the 29-year-old made three big blocks in the O.T.
However, even after three consecutive win, the Miami team especially the big-3 know that the job is not done yet and are eager to close the series out at Chicago’s own backyard.
Wade admitted that game-5 is a big one and said, "We understand it's going to be a tough game." "But we have the team and we have the guys that are capable of showing up and putting on a performance that we need to win the game. It's not going to be pretty, but that's not Miami Heat basketball anyway."
After the block buster signings before the season started, many people expected Miami to run away with the top-seed in the East. However, Chicago headed them and closed the regular season on the back of the NBA-best 62 victories. Guard Rose became the youngest MVP during the season, breaking through LeBron James’ two-year command. In addition to that, the Bulls won all the three games they played the Miami during the regular season.
However, time has passed and situation has changed. Now it is Miami leading them 3-1 in the ongoing finals.
Rose is still hopeful about their comeback into the series and said, “We still have games to play." "Thibs talked to us in the locker room about it, where we're going back to play at home, and we have to stay positive, where they are beatable. But we just have to make sure that we play together and the turnovers have to be down, play defence."
It is good to have an MVP spirit and to not give up until the end, but will not be an easy task for Rose and the Bulls as only eight teams in the history of NBA have bounced back to win the series after trailing 3-1. Most recently, it was the Phoenix Suns, who defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006.
Continued in Part-2
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