Bulls Take Down The Heat In Game 1

Despite being the number one seed in the playoffs, Vegas and most basketball pundits seemed to make Chicago the underdog in this series. Well someone forgot to tell the Bulls they weren’t supposed to win. Chicago took Game 1 in impressive fashion, 103-82.

The game started out with Miami converting two quick turnovers to take a 4-0 lead, and for much of the first half the Heat looked to be in solid control of the game. In the second quarter though the Bulls closed out the half well and went into halftime tied. From that point on though they dominated the game. Miami wasn’t even able to score 20 points in either quarter, and they saw game one slip away from them.

What’s most surprising from this game is that on paper you would have thought this was at least a close game. The Heat actually had a higher shooting and Free throw percentage (47.1-43.7% and 100-85%), but Chicago simply had more opportunities, as they made two six more FG’s and two more FT’s. Chicago also was a lot more effective from 3-point land, going 10-21 compared to Miami’s 3-8. The Bulls had those opportunities because of the little things. Chicago out rebounded Miami 45-33, including grabbing 19 offensive boards to the Heat’s 6. That many second chance shots doomed the Heat.

The real difference in this game was the depth that Chicago had that the Heat simply couldn’t match. If you compare Miami’s big three (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) to Chicago’s (Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng), the Heat have the advantage from a talent perspective. Unfortunately for Miami they don’t have much else in the tank and they didn’t have an answer to stop Chicago’s big 3. In game one Miami’s Big 3 scored a respectable 63 points, Chicago’s Big 3 though matched them shot for shot, and dropped 63 of their own. That means the rest of the Heat players combined for just 19 points, while Chicago’s role and bench players combined for 40.

While maybe in the future of this series the Heat can expect their Big 3 to outscore Chicago’s I doubt it will be by 21 points. For Miami to win this series they will need some of their role and bench players to step up and give them some good minutes. Right now though Miami is hurting because I don’t know if they can get their 2nd tier guys to matchup. And while they might have all the star power in the world in the end it usually comes down to having at least some talent coming off your bench. I’m not ready to throw the towel in on the Heat just yet, but Game 1 was a real eye opener for them.