Chicago Bulls' Balance, Defense, and Hustle Shuts Down Wade and James, Earns Game 1 Victory in Blowout

CHICAGO, IL. In just two days since the #1 seeded Chicago Bulls won their way into the Eastern Conference Finals to face the awaiting Miami Heat, the entire sports broadcasting world (as well as, the gambling world) seems to have decided that the Bulls' regular season sweep of the Heat does not count anymore now that it is the postseason.

Taj Gibson was electrifying off the bench with several huge plays including a monsterous dunk on the head of Dwayne Wade that energized the team and the crowd.

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After watching the Heat barely beat a geriatric Boston Celtics team with an injured point guard and no inside intimidator, ESPN's prognosticators somehow figure that the Heat have gotten better and have the Miami Heat moving on to the NBA Finals. Even Vegas has been favoring the Miami Heat.

But wait a second! The Chicago Bulls loved being the underdog! They cruised to the best record in basketball, mostly under the radar, until they played a Miami Heat team at full strength, beat them, and made them cry.

If that doesn't sound familiar, then maybe Game 1 would be the reminder that everyone needed.

Miami was able to hang in with the Bulls through the first half, going to the locker room tied at 48 - 48. The Heat probably felt pretty confident coming out of the locker room for the second half, but soon, they didn't know what hit them.

After trading baskets for the first 5 minutes of the 3rd, back to back threes by Derrick Rose and then Keith Bogans were part of a 10 - 0 run by the Bulls that helped them to seize the largest lead of the game.

Meanwhile, the Bulls' defense got downright stingy; the Bulls allowed only 5 points in the final 7:35 of the 3rd quarter, holding the Heat to only 15 points in the quarter.

The Bulls' defense smothered the Heat, allowing Wade only 18 pts on 17 shots and James only 15 pts on 15 shots in a masterful effort.

The Bulls' defense continued to clamp down to begin the 4th quarter, allowing only 3 more points in the first 4:12 on a Lebron James 3-pointer.

During that span, the Bulls got contributions from everyone in their 10-deep rotation, and they were able to amass a 17 point lead with 7:48 left in the game.

Despite their talents, the Heat weren't able to mount a run of their own, and they ended up falling to the Bulls, 103 - 82.

The MVP, Derrick Rose, led the Bulls in scoring, finishing with 28 points, 1 reb, 6 assists.

Luol Deng was magnificent, putting in 21 points, 7 reb, 2 assists, 4 steals, while holding his primary defensive assignment, Lebron James, to a mere 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting.

Dwayne Wade was also held significantly below his playoff averages. Was it the stifling Bulls' defense or the embarassing facial he received from Taj Gibson in the first half? No doubt that it will be a highlight of this Chicago Bulls' championship run.

Here are HIGHLIGHTS of THE CHICAGO BULLS vs. MIAMI HEAT, 2011 NBA PLAYOFFS EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, GAME 1:


Will the Bulls blowout the "NBA second-round champion" Miami Heat in Game 2?