Robert Mayer – USA Today Sports Images
The Chicago Bulls surprised the NBA world on Monday when they handed the Miami Heat a loss in their second round series. Despite being absolutely ravaged, the Bulls showed remarkable resiliency and were able to overtake the Heat in that first game. In game two on Wednesday night, though, it was a vastly different narrative.
Chicago was absolutely dominated, especially in the second and third quarters, in game two by Miami and ultimately fell to Heat by a score of 115-78. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both enjoyed great games while they were on the floor, but it was the way Chicago’s offense hit a wall that really hurt the Bulls and drastically swung the game in favor of Miami.
The Bulls shot just 35.5 percent from the field and only 39.1 percent from three in game two, in addition to turning the ball over 19 times, which led to 28 points for the Heat. The Bulls had a hard time making smart decisions with the basketball and couldn’t knock down their shot from almost anywhere on the floor.
Though many people will point to the Heat’s defense as a reason that the Bulls struggled so mightily to put points on the board, that’s only part of why Chicago had issues on offense. Much of what happened with the Bulls was regression to the mean. After all, this is a team who has been putting on a show lately, despite missing Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich recently. However, the Bulls only shot 43.7 percent from the floor as a team on the season and that was with everyone healthy, besides Derrick Rose.
It’s a tough task for the Bulls to accomplish, but they are going to have to rely on their defense to slow down the Heat rather than relying on fantastic offensive performances. Their roster is too depleted right now for them to constantly have someone posting heroic games. If they want to upset the Heat, the Bulls are going to have to do it without the ball in their hands.
Cody Williams is a Senior NBA Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
