Heat 96, Bulls 85
Chris Bosh rode a hot hand to a game-high 34 points as the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 96-85 in Game 3 of the NBA's Eastern Conference final on Sunday.
Bosh shot 13 of 18 from the field as the Heat seized a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. LeBron James added 22 points and 10 assists and Dwyane Wade chipped in with 17 points for Miami, which shot 50.7 percent against one of the league's most vaunted defenses.
Carlos Boozer had 26 points while Derrick Rose added 20 for the Bulls, who have lost two straight games for the first time since early February. Chicago will look to even the series Tuesday in Miami.
After a physical - and sloppy - first half, neither team led by more than five points in a back-and-forth third quarter until Wade hit a floating jumper to make it 60-53 with 3:56 remaining. Rose and Boozer kept the Bulls in the game by scoring the team's first 17 points of the quarter, and Luol Deng hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:05 to trim the deficit to 68-65 through three.
Bosh got hot to start the fourth quarter, making four straight shots - including a rim-hanging dunk with seven minutes remaining - to put Miami up 78-72. The Heat used free throws to take a double-digit lead, and James converted a three-point play with 5:07 left to put the game away.
The Bulls lost forward Omer Asik to a leg sprain in the second half. He did not return.