CHICAGO (AP) — By the numbers, the Chicago Bulls easily could have been blown out by the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
They weren't, though.
Even though MVP Derrick Rose struggled, even though
they got outshot and outrebounded, and even though LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
played more like superstars, the Bulls were in it until the end.
So maybe that's one positive they can take from
their 85-75 loss on Wednesday — or not. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau certainly
wasn't afterward.
He gave his team Thursday off, but he'll be
spending the next few days trying to fix what went wrong with the series
shifting to Miami tied at one game apiece.
Game 3 is Sunday.
"We're going to have to make corrections,
learn from it, and do a whole lot better down there," Thibodeau said.
"Defensively we have to do a lot better. We have to clean a lot of things
up."
The Bulls figured Miami wasn't about to go quietly,
even after a dominating 103-82 win in Game 1, when James struggled in a big way
and Wade just about disappeared. This time, James came up big near the end and
finished with 29 points, while Wade scored 24 and Udonis Haslem provided a big
lift with 13.
Still, Chicago might be up 2-0 had it made just a
few more baskets or grabbed a few more rebounds.
After dominating Miami on the boards, the Bulls got
beaten 45-41 in an area Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has dubbed a
"fistfight." And the Bulls went from scoring 31 second-chance points
in the opener to 18 in Game 2.
The shooting was simply abysmal, with the Bulls
making 34.1 percent compared to Miami's 47.1. Whether they were firing away
from the outside or going to the rim, they simply weren't hitting. They missed
an astounding 17 of 20 3-point attempts, were a brutal 17 of 42 in the paint
and had little luck at the foul line, too, going 16 of 26.
No wonder, then, that the Bulls managed just 29
points in the second half, including a franchise postseason-low 10 in the
fourth quarter.
All five Chicago starters shot below 50 percent,
with Rose hitting just 7 of 23 while scoring 21 points. The twisting layups and
floaters that usually fall through the net simply weren't going down, and his
jumpers were clanging off the rim.
The only other Bulls player in double-figure
scoring was Luol Deng with 13, and he was 5 of 15 and 1 of 7 from long range.
Carlos Boozer? He had a rough night, going 3 for 10
with seven points and sitting out the fourth quarter. While the Bulls got some
help from Taj Gibson (eight points) and Ronnie Brewer (seven points), 3-point
specialist Kyle Korver made only 1 of 5 from beyond the arc. That left him 3 of
15 from the outside over the past five games.
All that has to change, of course. Even so, for all
their shortcomings, the Bulls had a chance to win the game. The teams were tied
at 73 in the fourth quarter before James took over, so the loss hardly rattled
the Bulls.
"We're definitely confident," Rose said.
"I know we can't wait to go out there and play again. We're the type of
team where when things get tough, we stay together. We're not going different
ways. Coach always talks about this, where the playoffs is going to challenge
you every way possible. And we just got to stick together and know it's going
to be a fun series."
The Bulls showed they are a resilient bunch during
the regular season, piling up a league-leading 62 wins even though Boozer and
Noah missed significant time with injuries. Chicago dropped consecutive games
only four times during the season and never lost more than two in a row.
Of course, the stakes are higher now, and they're
up against a team many think will win multiple championships. The Bulls had a
chance to take a 2-0 series lead against a team they had been 4-0 against this
year. Instead, they stumbled and gave up homecourt advantage.
"We had a chance late, look at the
score," Gibson said. "It was tied in the fourth quarter, but the ball
didn't bounce our way. We couldn't get a shot to fall."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
