Shepkowski: Heat Not Concerned With Road Woes
By - Nick Shepkowski
(CBS) With the Bulls comeback win Thursday night at United Center they essentially wrapped up the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference for a second year in a row, now sitting four games ahead of the Miami Heat with just eight left to play.
The Heat loss puts Miami just 16-13 away from American Airlines Arena and continued their most recent struggles, losing now four of their last five road contests. Despite the recent issues that have pretty much solidified the Bulls the #1 seed, nobody in the Miami locker is too concerned with their road woes.
"There will not be an easy road and right now we're dealing with that tough road" Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. Despite the stated rough patch, he stopped short of saying he was concerned.
"We understand what we're playing for and things change very quickly in this league" Spoelstra added.
"Just like this game, if we're able to pull that out in regulation it changes in 24 hours".
LeBron James led all scorers with 30 points but his missed free throw in the final minute allowed for CJ Watson to send the game into overtime.
"You've got to win on the road, it's that simple" James said.
Despite coughing up the late lead, Dwyane Wade echoed his coach and teammates thoughts as he wasn't overly worried about the loss or road struggles.
"We executed down the stretch we made some big plays and put ourselves in position to win" Wade said.
How does the 2006 NBA Finals MVP think the Heat should go about getting out of their road funk?
"Just continue to come in everyday and stick together".
Chris Bosh was quoted earlier in the day Thursday in saying he'd much rather play a potential game seven versus the Bulls in Miami than at United Center. Although he gave the obvious answer then, he was far from worried about that potential series deciding game being played in the Windy City after the Bulls Thursday night win.
"That game seven is so far away so we just have to stick with what we're doing and focus on Charlotte tomorrow," Bosh said. "We're going to get this thing done, we're going to figure this thing out".
Although he's not going to let the lack of home court advantage put fear in him, Bosh did make it known that this isn't the same Bulls team from a year ago that the Heat are up against.
"They're (Bulls) a better team," Bosh said. "They've made some tremendous strides and acquisitions and every team is going to get better. "
The Bulls may be better and hold a 2-1 series lead versus Miami this year, but the Heat still don't seem too worried about having to win in Chicago.
In addition to covering the Bulls for 670TheScore.com, Nick Shepkowski is the associate producer on The McNeil and Spiegel Show, weekdays 9am-1pm on 670 The Score. You can follow Nick on Twitter at @Shep670.
