Heat hold home court, go up 2-1.
by Nick Wilke
Pre-Game
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will be looking to get Udonis Haslem into the game a little earlier than he did last game.
“Last game, the plan was to play him at the start of the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth,” Spoelstra said. “It is probably more likely that he will come in before that.”
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau will be looking for his team to limit Haslem this game since they weren’t able to do that in Game 2.
“He [Udonis Haslem] is a tough player and a high energy guy,” Thibodeau said. “He has the ability to shoot that 15-to-17 foot shot. We have to close a lot harder to him. We can’t allow him to get a good look at it.”
Haslem gets his first ovation of the night when he is shown on the jumbo-tron during warm-ups. He should expect a bigger one later on in the game.
Heat start with LeBron James, Mike Bibby, Joel Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
On the inactive list for the Heat are Jamaal Magloire, Erick Dampier and Dexter Pittman. Coach Spo must not have been impressed by Magloire’s dunk on Derrick Rose last game.
Bulls start with Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Keith Bogans and Derrick Rose.
John Lucas III, Jannero Pargo and Brian Scalabrine are inactive for the Bulls.
First Quarter
The Bulls’ first field goal is a Luol Deng dunk. Noah was able to find Deng on the back-door cut for the easy bucket.
King James gets the crowd going early with a fast-break dunk for his first points of the game. The King looks hyped, going for every loose ball on the defensive end. He even fell into the crowd going after a loose ball and came up with a little limp. The limp only lasts for a few seconds before LeBron got the ball in his hands again.
The other star of the Heat, DWade, is looking tight after he came up short on a dunk and got stripped on a lay-up attempt on the next possession. Maybe he forgot to do his pre-game stretches.
Joakim Noah picked up an early second foul after he went over the back of LeBron to attempt a put-back dunk. Noah went to the bench midway through the quarter with the Bulls ahead 10-9.
DRose is still settling for mid-range jumpers when he knows damn well that he can beat Bibby off the dribble. To give credit to the Heat, they are doing a great job collapsing when the ball gets inside the three-point line.
Bosh scores his first field goal on a dunk with four minutes remaining, after a nice crossover and dish by LeBron.
With 1:52 remaining in the quarter, Miami’s own, Udonis Haslem, checks into the game and the crowd gives him a long and loud standing ovation. The ovation was well-deserved after the way Haslem came into Game 2 and had a dunkfest.
Both defenses are playing tight D and not allowing any easy buckets so far. The Heat lead 18-15 after a quarter of play.
Second Quarter
The Bulls are off to a 7/27 (26 percent) start from the field until Boozer makes a mid-range jumper for his first two points of the game. He follows it with a good post move and bucket on the next possession.
Early in the quarter, the Heat is feeding Bosh in the post, looking for him to draw some fouls and get to the line. Bosh is now playing center for the Heat.
Boozer has made four shots in a row after starting off 0-5. He is shooting more now that DRose is on the bench getting some rest.
Midway through the quarter, Bosh has 7 of the Heat’s first 9 points of the quarter. He now has 12 points in 17 minutes of play.
Noah is still on the bench as the Heat lead 31-30.
D-Wade is having some trouble holding onto the ball so far in this game, but he shows that he can still finish dunks after a powerful double-clutch dunk off an assist from Mario Chalmers.
For the most part, the refs are letting the players play. This is Playoff basketball and it’s getting physical when someone drives to the lane. Just ask DRose and LeBron about it. Good sight to see for old-school NBA fans.
D-Rose is now making more of an effort to drive the lane and draw fouls, but the Heat are collapsing on him and contesting every shot. He hasn’t been able to get his teammates involved yet as he hasn’t registered an assist yet. Noah has three of the Bulls’ five assists while the Heat has an assist total of 11.
Bosh has a game high of 16 points on 6-9 shooting to lead the Heat. Heat up 43-40 at half.
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