Bulls at Heat
THE STORY: The Miami Heat turned the defensive tables on their rivals from Chicago to seize home-court advantage in the NBA's Eastern Conference final. The Heat look to take advantage of their Game 2 victory by hosting the Bulls in Game 3 on Sunday night. Miami has yet to lose at home in the postseason, but Chicago won its only game there in the regular season.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HEAT: Game 1 was a significant eye-opener for the Heat, who were spanked by 21 points thanks to a stifling second-half defensive stand by the Bulls. Faced with the prospect of returning to Florida down 2-0 in the best-of-seven, Miami used its own suffocating defense to limit the Bulls to just 29 points in the final 24 minutes of Game 2. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade rebounded from so-so performances in the opener, combining for 53 points on 20-for-37 shooting from the floor. Udonis Haslem gave the Heat a major boost off the bench, scoring 13 points in 23 minutes. Miami won despite committing 15 turnovers, five coming from James.
ABOUT THE BULLS: Coach Tom Thibodeau chided his team for its "low-energy offense (and) low-energy defense" in Game 2. While the latter may have been a bit harsh, the statistics support his complaints on the first count. The Bulls shot just 34 percent from the field, made just 3 of 20 attempts from 3-point range and missed 10 free throws in their worst offensive performance of the season. Taj Gibson had eight of the Bulls' 10 points in the fateful fourth quarter as Carlos Boozer (seven points, eight rebounds) remained stapled to the bench. He'll need to bounce back if the Bulls hope to counter Miami's Big Three of Wade, James and Chris Bosh.
WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT: James' 12-for-21 effort in Game 2 was his best shooting performance of the playoffs. Bulls guard and league MVP Derrick Rose went 0 for 3 from the 3-point line, his first oh-fer from long range since going 0 for 9 in Chicago's first-round series opener against the Indiana Pacers.
KEY STATISTIC: +81 - The combined plus/minus of Miami's starting five in Game 2. The Bulls' starting unit finished -45.
LAST WORD: "This is playoff basketball. It's physical. Guys are banging. You're playing for a championship. We've seen each other all year long. This is no time to be friends." - Gibson on the lack of scoring in Game 2