Can the Bulls Beat Miami in the Conference Semifinals?

Chicago Bulls



Derrick Rose

Jimmy Butler

It's actually pretty shocking that the Chicago Bulls are competing with the Miami Heat at all.  The Heat look like the obvious choice to win it all, just as they did last year, with Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James, who just won the 2013 NBA MVP award, his fourth MVP of his career.  But nonetheless, a beat-up and bruised Bulls team are giving Miami a run for their money.  Probably the most surprising thing about all this is the fact that Chicago is keeping up with the Heat without their star playmaker Derrick Rose.  The Bulls are also without Luol Deng.  However, their replacement point guard Nate Robinson has stepped up and been outstanding.  Standing at '5 "9, Robinson has been making unbelieveable plays throughout the playoffs, plays that can sometimes look almost Rose-like.  The series is 2-1 Heat, but the Bulls have looked great in every game but Game 2.  The Bulls took a nail biter Game 1, 93-86.  Nate Robinson scored 27 points and 9 assists.  Jimmy Butler played all 48 minutes, snatched 48 rebounds and scored 21 points.  Bulls center Joakim Noah had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.  The Heat's numbers didn't look as spectacular.  Miami was off their game in Game 1, yet they still brought the game right down to the wire.  LeBron had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.  Wade managed 14 points, 3 steals and 2 assists.  There was not much else to speak of for the Heat in that game, and the Bulls were able to leave American Airlines Arena with a win.



Nate Robinson

Joakim Noah

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Game 2 was all Heat.  It was close for a little while, and then Miami started to dominate, and it was all over from there.  Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were both ejected in the fourth quarter.  LeBron had 19 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.  Wade had 15 points and assists, Bosh had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Mario Chalmers had 11 points and 4 assists, Ray Allen had 21 points, and Norris Cole had 18 points and 6 rebounds.  On the Bulls end, Marco Belinelli led Chicago in scoring with 13 points and 6 assists.  Joakim Noah had 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Nate Robinson had 11 points.  In the end, the score was 115-78 Heat.












Carlos Boozer

Marco Belinelli

Game 3 was a shootout, just as Game 2 was, only Game 3 was much more chippy.  In the first game of the series in Chicago, the Bulls took an early lead, building momentum on both offense and defense.  It wasn't long until Miami was right back on the heels of the Bulls.  Remember, they're playing in Chicago, one of the toughest venues to play as a visitor.  When Chris Anderson stuffed Nate Robinson along the sidelines in the first half, Anderson's momentum carried him and caused him to crash into Robinson and land on top of him.  As Anderson was getting off Robinson, Joakim Noah rushed over and shoved Anderson off Robinson.  This resulted in the first technical foul of the game and the beginning of the fighting between the two teams.  Later in the game, as LeBron brought the ball up the floor at the start of a Miami possession, Nazr Mohammed picked him up on defense.  He played LeBron really tightly, and LeBron managed to get his arms wrapped up with those of Mohammed a little bit, intentional or not, causing both men to fall over.  The ref standing right there called a foul on LeBron, causing James to stand up and argue the call.  As he argued, Mohammed jumped up and shoved LeBron, sending him flying across the floor.  Now, LeBron may have flopped, meaning he acted out the skidding across the floor, but whatever the case, Mohammed was ejected and the game moved on.  At the end of the day, it was a 104-94 Miami Heat victory.  LeBron had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.  Bosh had 20 points, 19 rebounds and 4 steals, and Norris Cole had 18 points.  On the Bulls, Carlos Boozer collected 21 points, Jimmy Butler had 17 points and 5 rebounds, Nate Robinson had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, Marco Belinelli had 16 points and 6 assists, and Joakim Noah had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

So can the Bulls actually BEAT Miami in the Conference Semifinals?  Well, you can't tell that until the series is over.  They have certainly gave the Heat a run for their money.  It pretty much rests on Game 4 tonight at 7:30.  If the Heat win, the series is 3-1 and a Chicago comeback is very unlikely, but if the Bulls can pull it off, the series is back to zero at 2-2 and Chicago is just a couple wins away from probably the biggest upset in NBA Playoffs history.