With all the hype surrounding the matchup between last postseason’s Eastern Conference opponents, the game lived up to expectations, even with an ending barred in frustration and confusion as the Bulls (17-5) fell short in South Beach, losing 97-93 at the hands of the Miami Heat (15-5).
The Bulls were without the services of Luol Deng and C.J. Watson and following the theme of that Eastern Conference Finals series, Derrick Rose carried the team as far as he could but fell short at the end.
Rose scored 34 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists but missed two crucial free throws with Chicago down 94-93 with 22 seconds remaining.
"It's definitely tough," Rose told reporters after the game. "All I can say is, I guess God does everything for a reason. To miss both and let my team down, the only thing I can do is learn from it.
"This is so unreal. I had a chance to change the game. This time, it didn't work out. I know my will to win is still very high. I guarantee you next time those shots are going down."
Rose had been perfect from the line in the fourth quarter this season before that sequence, knocking down all of his 28 of his free throw attempts and was had made all 12 of his attempts before the two botched attempts.
Following Rose’s missed opportunities, LeBron James (35 points, 11 rebounds) would be intentionally fouled, but he missed both his chances at the line also.
Taj Gibson appeared to corral James’ missed, but Dwyane Wade (15 points, 7 assists) came in to knock the ball loose from his possession. There also appeared to be an inadvertent whistle from the stands and Wade appeared to be out of bounds after knocking the ball loose, but the officials decided to jump the ball up.
James ended up jumping with Gibson and the Heat was afforded an extra possession and Mario Chalmers would make one of two free throws to push Miami’s lead to two and giving the Bulls one final chance to tie or win the game, but Rose’s floater in the lane would fall short.
“That’s the way it is,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. “Derrick was Derrick, attacking. A hard-fought game, in position to win at the end. We didn’t get it done.”
The Bulls resiliency was on full display as they battled through foul trouble, turnovers (15 for 22 Heat points) and Heat runs and highlights to give themselves a shot to steal one on the road.
“Not just [against] this team, but any team really, the last couple of minutes are big,” said Richard Hamilton (11 points, 5 rebounds). “They had opportunities, we had opportunities and we thought we had a chance, but the ball didn’t go our way and that’s the NBA for you,” he continued. “You try to win every game, every time step on the floor, regardless of who you play. They want to win and we want to win. They got the win tonight.”
NOTES
Watson sat Sunday’s game, due apparently to a wrist injury he suffered during the Bulls win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.
“He is day-to-day,” said Thibodeau. “He’s a lot better today. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
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