MIAMI (AP) — The first 48 minutes of Dwyane Wade's night were unremarkable.
The five minutes of overtime changed all that.
And Miami's Big Three is one win away from playing
for the NBA's biggest prize.
LeBron James scored 35 points, Chris Bosh added 22
and Wade perked up to block as many shots — two — as Chicago made in overtime,
as the Heat topped the Bulls 101-93 in a scintillating Game 4 of the Eastern
Conference finals on Tuesday night.
Miami will go for the clincher Thursday in Chicago,
where the Heat can wrap up their first finals trip since 2006.
"It's one game away," James said.
"We're not taking anything for granted."
Derrick Rose scored 23 points for the Bulls, who
got 20 apiece from Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer. Chicago has lost three straight
games for the first time this season, and afterward, the league's reigning MVP
pointed the finger of blame at himself.
"It's not over," said Rose, who shot 8 of
27 and turned the ball over seven times.
Still, some doubt may be creeping in. Chicago had
its chances, and knew it, but was unable to take advantage of a largely off
night by Wade. Rose was guarded in the game's biggest minutes by James, and the
MVP from 2009 and 2010 had the upper hand against this season's MVP.
"It's extremely hard," Rose acknowledged,
"when a 6-8 guy can easily defend you."
The Heat were down by 11 early, led for only 4½
minutes in the third and fourth quarters, and had Wade stuck on eight points
from late in the second until past the midpoint of overtime.
Somehow, it wasn't a problem.
A sleep-deprived Mike Miller — whose wife delivered
a baby last week — scored 12 points and made plenty of key defensive plays to
help Miami outscore Chicago by a whopping 36 points with him on the floor.
Udonis Haslem missed all five of his shots, and he was still a plus-25 in his
33 minutes off the bench.
And the stars, well, were stars.
"We know offensively, at times, we have rough
stretches," James said. "But we give ourselves chances to win every
game because we defend."
James was 11 for 26 from the field and 13 of 13 —
his best playoff showing ever — from the foul line. Bosh was aggressive again,
making 10 of his 11 free throws. Miami made its last 24 straight from the
stripe, and the defense was again the biggest key of all.
"Defense is the reason that we're here,"
Bosh said. "Defense is the reason that we win every game. And defense is
the reason why we have a chance of winning Game 5."
From the Miami perspective, this game will be
remembered for how the Heat rallied around Wade — then watched him save his
best for last.
"We reminded him in one of the final huddles,
this is his time," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The 2006 NBA finals MVP was in the arena late
Monday night, trying to work on some things in one of his customary
playoff-after-dark sessions.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This
seemed like it would be the latter.
Whatever answer he sought, he didn't find for much
of Game 4. Wade made just 5 of 16 shots from the field, lacking his usual lift
at the rim. He made a pair of free throws with 1:50 left in the first half for
his seventh and eighth points, and didn't score again until overtime.
Better late than never.
"You could tell that neither team wanted to
lose," Wade said. "Both teams were clawing. If you're a fan of the
game, this was a great basketball game. ... This was will."
Chicago turned the ball over on consecutive possessions
late in overtime, Wade turned the second of those into a layup with 1:01 left
for a 95-89 lead, and the Heat soon knew they were one win away from the title
round.
"Hey, they're a great team," Bulls coach
Tom Thibodeau said. "They compete. They play hard. They play great defense
... and they made plays at the end."
The fourth quarter was pure theater, both teams
clearly knowing — clearly relishing — the stakes.
Miami scored the first seven points for a 70-69
lead. Chicago took the lead back on a pair of free throws by Rose with 6:34
left, and Miami answered with a four-point possession — two free throws by Bosh
after a flagrant foul against Boozer, followed by Miller making a jumper over
Rose for a 78-77 edge.
Back and forth from there, with the lead, the
momentum, control of the series, all seeming to turn every time the ball
crossed midcourt.
"We thought we had chances to win and
unfortunately we came up short," Boozer said. "All we can do now is
focus on the next one at home and do what we can to win that game and then move
forward from there."
Rose had a chance with 28 seconds left in
regulation, his jumper from the left side hitting the rim and eventually being
corralled by Miller. The Heat called time with 23 seconds left, 18 seconds on
the shot clock, everyone in the building probably thinking the play would be
set up for James.
It was. And it never got a chance for liftoff.
Referee Bennett Salvatore called James for an
offensive foul with 8 seconds left, saying Ronnie Brewer beat him to the spot
as the two-time MVP tried to back down the right side of the lane. So instead
of winning the game late in regulation, James had to send it to overtime with
defense. He guarded Rose on the final possession, forcing the Chicago guard
into a jumper that fell way short — and off to an extra 5 minutes they went.
"All I can do now is put it behind me and go
forward," Rose said.
A day after being fined $50,000 for directing an
anti-gay slur at a fan during Game 3, Bulls center Joakim Noah had six points
and 14 rebounds in 45 minutes. And there seemed to be very little, if any,
unusual rancor from Miami fans toward Noah.
Chicago's lead was 46-44 at halftime, after some
wild emotional swings — a 19-4 run by the Bulls, followed by a 29-9 spurt for
the Heat, then capped by an 18-7 rebuttal by the Bulls to close the second
quarter.
The Heat never led in the third quarter, but
Chicago never pulled away.
The Bulls were up by eight and had possession with
3 minutes left, before Miami scored eight of the game's next 10 points to make
a precarious deficit a bit more manageable and set up the unbelievable final
quarter.
"Look, this series is an absolute
bloodbath," Spoelstra said. "It's about as competitive and physical
as it can be."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
