Heat Hopes To Roast Bulls Tonight
CHICAGO - (CBSMiami) - After two rounds of playoff games, the Miami Heat is finally down to the wire, playing in the series that will decide if it makes the NBA Championship series and the chance to once again stand at the pinnacle of the NBA. First, it has to get past The Bulls.
The battle begins in Chicago's United Center Sunday night at 7, and can be seen on TNT.
On one side is a team led by MVP Derrick Rose that stormed to the league's best record. On the other is a squad led by a superstar trio that decided to unite in Miami after meeting with Chicago.
The Heat got James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in perhaps the greatest free agent haul ever, hoping to win a championship — or five.
The Bulls wound up with one of the deepest teams after failing to reel in the "Big Three" and are back in the conference finals for the first time since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were completing their second championship three-peat in 1998. Along with Rose, they have the Coach of the Year in Tom Thibodeau, a league-leading 62 wins and homecourt advantage.
As consolations go, that's not bad.
For Chicago, beating the Heat would be even better.
With enough cap room to lure two star free agents, the Bulls made it clear they were going to be big spenders last summer and were looking for more after winning 41 games and losing in the first round each of the past two years.
They fired Vinny Del Negro and replaced him with Thibodeau, the first in a series of major moves that vaulted them into the championship picture. When the Big Three decided to unit in South Beach, Chicago acquired Carlos Boozer and role players like Kyle Korver.
"It was a great meeting that I had with that team and that franchise, knowing the history," James said. "There was some great things that they said, but at the end of the day, I felt like this was the best opportunity for me to win a championship.
"But it was a great team," he added. "I definitely had one or two mornings where I woke up thinking I would be a Bull, too, but ultimately I decided to come here."
Wade joked that "it was like two mornings" he woke up thinking he would sign with Chicago.
"I grew up in the city, I grew up with my dreams of wanting to become an NBA player from the Chicago Bulls," Wade said. "It was flattering from that standpoint and they gave a great presentation, great opportunity. Just felt that the Miami opportunity was better."
At 62-20, the Bulls matched their best record since the 1997-98 championship season and swept three regular-season games from Miami, albeit by a combined eight points. That was apparently enough to make the Heat break down, with coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledging there were "a couple of guys crying in the locker room" after Chicago's 87-86 victory on March 26.
The Heat eventually regrouped and won 15 of 18 down the stretch to finish with 58 wins and the second seed. They took out Philadelphia and Boston in five games each, and they come into this series with James and Wade on a roll.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
