Miami Heat closes out Chicago Bulls, advances to NBA Finals

The Heat won the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday at United Center with a hard-fought 83-80 victory against the Chicago Bulls. Miami now plays an old foe, the Mavs, in the NBA Finals, which will begin Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat beat the Bulls 4-1 in the best-of-7 series with a wild comeback on Thursday that lifted Miami to its first NBA Finals since breaking Dallas’ hearts in six games in 2006. The Heat broke the hearts of thousands in Chicago on Thursday.

The United Center crowd was deflated with 25 seconds left when Bulls guard Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP in NBA history, missed the second of two free throws to tie the score at 81. The Heat trailed by nine with less than three minutes to play but rallied with an amazing 16-2 run that ended with a midrange jumper by LeBron James with 29.5 seconds left. Heat forward Chris Bosh made a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds left, and James blocked Rose’s desperation three-point attempt to tie the score at the buzzer. James and Haslem, who doubled-teamed Rose at the end of the game, immediately hugged after capping the unlikely finish. For the majority of Thursday’s Game 5, the Heat played some of its worst basketball of the season. Wade played poorly for three quarters but came alive at the end. The performance was similar to his effort in Game 4 when he failed to score in the second half but was key in overtime. Wade favored his left shoulder throughout the game and received treatment on it during the third quarter. He finished with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He looked in mint condition with the game on the line, though. His four-point play with 1:30 cut the Bulls lead to three points. Wade’s brilliance was sandwiched by a pair of three-pointers by LeBron James. His second three tied the game at 79 with 1:01 left. His midrange jumper gave the Heat the lead for good. James finished with a game-high 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists. Chris Bosh, whose two free throws gave the Heat an 83-81 lead with 16.8 second left, finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The United Center was a cauldron of noise with 3:53 left in the fourth quarter on Thursday after Ronnie Brewer’s three-pointer to give the Bulls a nine-point lead but was silent in the final moments as the Heat took a moment to celebrate before refocusing for the finals. Wade was benched midway through the third quarter after committing his ninth turnover of the game. He started the fourth quarter on the bench with a team trainer stretching Wade’s left shoulder. His nine turnovers in less than three quarters tied a Heat postseason record. Wade entered the fourth quarter after a timeout with 10 minutes to play. His mid-range jumper from the wing cut the Bulls’ lead to 69-63 with 7:20 left. It was the Heat’s second field goal of the quarter and just its eighth of the second half. The Heat shot 33.3 percent in the third quarter but managed to outscore Chicago 19-17. The third quarter highlighted the physical nature of the series. Carlos Boozer clotheslined LeBron James during the period and whistled for a flagrant foul. The Bulls shot just 23.8 percent in the period but managed to hold onto his lead with an inspired defensive effort. Wade was called for a rare traveling violation with 6:20 left in the first half. The turnover was the Heat’s fifth of the first half and led to a mid-range jumper from Carlos Boozer that gave Miami a 12-point lead. On the Heat’s next possession, Wade again was whistled for traveling. The back-to-back turnovers highlighted a first half were the concentration that gave the Het a 3-1 lead in the series was suddenly lacking. Wade finished the first half with six turnovers. Overall, the Heat had eight turnovers compared to just six assists and was out-rebounded by the Bulls 23-14. The Bulls built a seven-point lead in the first quarter behind 19 combined points from Derrick Rose and Luol Deng. Deng’s three-pointer with a minute left in the period put Chicago ahead 25-18 but James answered with a three-pointer to end the quarter. Chicago shot 47.8 percent from the floor to begin the game while holding the Heat to 7-of-18 shooting from the field.

Miami is playing its best defense of the season, according to LeBron James, and it has made things miserable for NBA MVP Derrick Rose of Chicago

The NBA’s Most Valuable Player attempted two shots in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Let that marinate: Two shots for Bulls guard Derrick Rose in 12 minutes of one of the most important games of his young career.

In back-to-back games, the Heat’s defense has dominated Rose and his Bulls in a close final period in the Eastern Conference finals. Rose attempted four shots in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and made none. It might be the difference in the series. Sunday’s loss gave Chicago its first consecutive defeats since early February.

Rose built his MVP résumé this season on strong efforts in the fourth quarters of games. More specifically, his fourth quarters against the Heat during the regular season helped him win the award. What has been the key to containing the youngest MVP in league history?

“I don’t know,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday, a practice day for the Heat and an off day for the Bulls. “It’s a whole lot easier said than done.”

Spoelstra played coy Monday for obvious reasons. With a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-7 series, the Heat can take a commanding lead Tuesday with a win at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“He’s a great player,” Spoelstra said. “He’s an MVP player. [Rose] will have opportunities on every single possession.”

But he has not. Chicago’s Rose is wilting. Forward LeBron James, the MVP the two seasons before Rose won the award, said Monday that the Heat is playing its best defense of the season. That defense begins with stopping Rose, and the game plan for limiting him will remain the same Tuesday.

‘head of the snake’

“He’s the head of the snake,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “We understand as he [goes], they go. If we can slow him a little bit then that’s what we want to do.”

The Heat has used a mixture of double teams and traps to contain Rose on the perimeter. When he penetrates the lane, the Heat’s help defenders have been quick to close off angles to the rim and force difficult shots.

“We’re just trying to keep him out of the paint,” Heat reserve Mario Chalmers said.

For much of Sunday’s game, guards Chalmers and Mike Bibby served as the Heat’s first line of defense against Rose. In the fourth quarter, the Heat went with Wade and James as on-the-ball defenders and limited Rose to just one shot in the paint.

“We just have to keep bodies in front of him and be athletic,” Spoelstra said.

Said Wade: “Our only job is to make sure when he comes to the basket to make it tough on him. We’re just trying to put bodies in front of him.”

Wade added that the Heat has used different defenders against Rose in an attempt to “wear him down” for late-game scenarios. It has worked. Rose was 1 of 6 from the field in the fourth quarters of Games 2 and 3. On Monday, Chris Bosh called Wade the perfect one-on-one defender against Rose for late-game scenarios.

“Dwyane can gap him a little bit more and give him a little more space because he can time his jumper a little better — because Dwyane’s bigger and he’s just as quick and just as fast as [Rose] is,” Bosh said. “When Dwyane is motivated to stop somebody, he does a pretty good job.”

He’s on his own

Rose didn’t receive much help offensively late in the previous two games of the series. Chicago reserve forward Taj Gibson (17 points) has outscored the rest of the Bulls combined (13 points) in the fourth quarters of the Heat’s back-to-back wins. In that fact, Wade said he and James can relate to Rose and his plight.

“That’s the reason why we’re playing together,” Wade said. “After so many years of that, you want to do something else.”

Rose leads Bulls past Hawks 95-83

The Chicago Bulls were looking for someone, anyone, to provide a spark, and it figured that Derrick Rose would.

It was no shocker, either that Taj Gibson provided one, too.

Rose scored 33 points, Gibson scored all of his 11 in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-83 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead.

Luol Deng added 23 points and Chicago let out a big sigh of relief.

"It's definitely fun playing against a good team," Rose said. "Coach always said we're going to have to walk through the fire together. Every series has tested us in every way, but I think that we're sticking together."

Game 6 is Thursday in Atlanta, and a win would put Chicago in the conference finals for the first time since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen wrapped up their second championship three-peat in 1998. They are in this position after dominating Atlanta in the fourth quarter 26-15, with Rose matching Gibson's 11 points.

Rose showed why he is the league's youngest MVP, hitting 11 of 24 shots and finishing with nine assists. It was a big improvement over Game 4 when he needed 32 shots to score 34 points, and he was particularly effective down the stretch, attacking the rim.

"It forces the defense to collapse, leads to easy opportunities for others, it leads to some second shots," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We want to be inside-out so I thought it was huge."

Atlanta's Jeff Teague came up big again filling in for the injured Kirk Hinrich, scoring 21 for the third time in this series, but the Hawks came up short in the end.

Josh Smith contributed 16 points. Joe Johnson 15, Zaza Pachulia 13 and Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"We were playing for everything," Horford said. "We have to regroup again and get ready for Thursday."

It hasn't been an easy postseason for the Bulls after they stormed to a league-leading 62 wins, with Indiana pushing them in the first round and the Hawks doing the same. Even so, they are poised to advance.

The Bulls led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter but were trailing 70-69 early in the fourth when they went on a 9-0 run.

Rose started it when he drove to his left for a layup, fed Gibson a no-look pass in transition for a three-point play and added a layup that made it 78-70.

Then, midway through the fourth, he drove for a three-point play that made it 85-76. Fans were screeching "MVP! MVP!" as he buried the free throw, and after Atlanta pulled within six, Chicago reeled eight straight to make it 93-79, with six points coming from Gibson.

"Taj is a good player," Rose said. "I think he really doesn't know how good he is."

The fourth quarter aside, it wasn't an easy night for the Bulls.

Considering Chicago got 15 points each from Rose and Deng in the first half and led by as many as 15, the Hawks were probably glad to be trailing 48-42 at halftime. They kept coming at the Bulls in the third quarter.

Things got particularly tense after a two-handed dunk by Smith cut Chicago's lead to 61-60 with just over 4 minutes left in the period. He hung on the rim and Carlos Boozer gave him a forearm to the face, leading to a retaliatory shove from Smith and technical fouls for both players.

"I dunked the basketball and I go to turn and he just cleared me with an elbow to the jaw," Smith said. "Nobody is going to do that to me. I don't care who you are. I'm a man first."

Smith gave the Hawks their first lead of the game when he nailed a jumper that made it 64-63 with 1:45 remaining. Deng answered with a jumper and hit two free throws after Horford scored to make it 67-66.

Pachulia then hit an 11-footer with 9.8 seconds left before Gibson drove upcourt and fed Ronnie Brewer to give Chicago a 69-68 lead going into the fourth. Then, after a layup by Teague, Rose went off. So did Gibson, and the Bulls prevailed.

"The series is not over with," Smith said. "We have to go and play with a ton of energy on Thursday. We have to do a better job of keeping Derrick Rose out of our paint. If we do that we should be coming back here to play a Game 7."

Notes: The Hawks went big again, with coach Larry Drew sticking with the lineup that helped them win Game 4. Jason Collins starting at center, Horford at power forward and Smith at small forward, with Marvin Williams in a reserve role. ... Keith Bogans, who sprained his right ankle in Game 4, scored 11 for Chicago after being limited to free throws at the morning shootaround. ... Boozer finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls.

NBA roundup: Celtics bounce Knicks in 4; Sixers stay alive

NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics made the New York Knicks' return to the postseason a brief one.

Now the Celtics have a long break before that expected trip to Miami.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and the Celtics swept their way into the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding on for a 101-89 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.

Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points with nine rebounds and ex-Piston Chauncey Billups (sprained knee) did not play.

New Orleans 93, L.A. Lakers 88: Chris Paul scored 27 points with 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the host Hornets evened their first-round playoff series at 2-2. Paul scored 14 of New Orleans' 24 points in the fourth quarter. The All-Star guard then capped his triple-double performance by running down the clock and setting up Jarrett Jack's short jumper, which made it 90-86 with 9.3 seconds left. Kobe Bryant scored 17 for the Lakers but did not score in the first half and finished 5 of 18 shooting.

Philadelphia 86, Miami 82: Lou Williams hit a three-pointer with 8.1 seconds left to help the host 76ers avoid a sweep. Miami was 95 seconds away from winning Game 4, holding an 82-76 lead. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat didn't score again. Jrue Holiday made a three with 46.6 seconds left that sliced the deficit to one. Williams followed with a three from the top of the arc for an 84-82 lead.

Atlanta 88, Orlando 85: Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson made four big free throws in the final 20 seconds for the host Hawks. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 29 points and 17 rebounds.

Rose's woes: Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose had a walking boot on his left foot Sunday and was scheduled for an MRI on his sprained ankle. Rose sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter Saturday; the Bulls hope to have him available for Tuesday's Game 5.

Collison guts it out with bad ankle

Jeff Foster, one of the most tenured Indiana Pacers ever, has seen about everything in the NBA. A teammate playing hurt impresses him.

Pacers point guard Darren Collison, a game-time decision, managed to play 34 minutes on a sprained left ankle Thursday.

"He played a good game," said Foster, one of only three players with 700 games in a Pacers uniform. "Anytime you play injured, it speaks a lot of the person. We're glad to have him out there."

Collison injured his left ankle Monday when he stepped on a cameraman late in the first half of Game 2 in Chicago's United Center.

The second-year point guard scored nine points on 4-for-8 shooting in the Pacers' 88-84 loss to the Bulls in Game 3.

The ankle caused some issues. Collison had just two assists and four turnovers.

But the biggest contribution for the Pacers was that he was on the court. His 34 minutes, 28 seconds were the second most of any Pacer, six seconds fewer than top scorer Danny Granger.

"It's definitely not 100 percent. I pushed it. I managed to help my team," Collison said, admitting the ankle bothered him "a little bit."

"But I'm not going to make any excuses. What happened at the end happened. I was happy to get in the game and contribute."

With the score tied at 84, the Pacers called a timeout with 55.4 seconds left. They ended up getting just a contested jumper from Collison that missed with 40.9 seconds to play.

After Derrick Rose's surging layup put Chicago ahead 86-84, the Pacers had another chance.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel had been substituting for the situation. He had Dahntay Jones in for defense on Derrick Rose. During a timeout with 17.8 seconds left, Vogel brought Collison back in to run the offense for a potential score-tying or winning play.

The possession bogged down and the Pacers settled for a long 3-pointer from Granger that missed with 2.9 seconds to play.

"We've just got to execute better," Collison said. "We didn't take some great shots there at the end."

Collison played 11 minutes in the first quarter and didn't score or have an assist. He started to get it going a little bit in the second quarter, going 2-for-2 from the field.

The Pacers had been preparing as if Collison wouldn't play, readying A.J. Price to be the starter and T.J. Ford the backup. Instead, Price played 13 minutes as Collison handled starter's minutes.

"My hat goes off to Darren, trying to lead his team," Jones said. "He suffered a rough injury and he tried to play through it. He has guts for trying to play through it."

"He looked good," said Paul George, who teamed with Jones to hold Rose to 4-for-18 shooting. "He looked like he was at full strength. Hopefully with a couple more days of rest and healing, he'll be at 100 percent."

Bulls 103, Knicks 90

Derrick Rose scored 26 points and Luol Deng added 23 and 10 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls used a big second half to defeat the host New York Knicks, 103-90, on Tuesday.

Carlos Boozer chipped in 14 points and a season-high 22 boards and Joakim Noah scored 13 points for the Bulls (61-20), who have already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference and still have a shot at the best record in the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who are locked into the No. 6 spot in the East and will open the playoffs this weekend at the Boston Celtics.

New York held a 55-52 edge at the half but watched that lead quickly disappear when Chicago ripped off a 26-2 run over the first seven minutes of the third quarter. The Knicks recovered by the end of the period, cutting it to 84-73 heading into the final period.

They got as close as 91-84 early in the fourth quarter before Rose drained a 3-pointer to help the Bulls pull away again.

Bill Walker added 18 points for New York, which played without All-Star forward Amar'e Stoudemire for the fourth straight game. Stoudemire is expected to be ready for the playoffs.

In challenging East, Luol Deng quietly providing Bulls a boost

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is playing like an MVP. Forward Carlos Boozer and center Joakim Noah finally are healthy and on the court together.

They all make the Bulls serious contenders in the Eastern Conference.

As important as those three are, Bulls coaches and players said the team would not have withstood the injuries to Boozer and Noah without the reliably consistent play of versatile forward Luol Deng.

Perhaps overlooked at times, Deng is not undervalued by his team.

In Chicago's 87-86 victory against the Miami Heat on Sunday, Deng played a game-high 42 minutes, 36 seconds and had 18 points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal. His three free throws in the final 17.3 seconds won the game.

Deng is strong offensively and defensively. He can start or run with the second unit. The Bulls run plays for him and through him. They can have him defend a shooting guard or a power forward.

"When you look at the teams that have had success over the years, there's always a guy like that," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I don't like to take him off the floor, because whatever you need he provides."

Thibodeau is serious. Deng was fifth in the NBA in minutes a game (39.2) and one of six players averaging at least 17 points, six rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.9 steals.

Deng has had such statistics for a large part of his career. But because of Chicago's limited success in the past two seasons and because of Rose's outstanding play this season, Deng doesn't always get the credit.

Deng, 25, is unfazed by the lack of recognition. "As long as my teammates and coaches are satisfied with what I'm doing, it makes me happy with what I'm doing," Deng said.

Deng, a seven-year NBA veteran who played one season at Duke, recognizes Thibodeau's arrival as Bulls coach this season has helped his game. Thibodeau implemented a style that fit Deng: tough defense and an offense with ball movement.

"Coach's system has been great for me because I know what we're doing," Deng said. "My whole career, I've liked structure. My high school was very organized. When I played with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) at Duke, it was very organized. I like a system."

Thibodeau's system allows the Bulls to capitalize on Deng's versatility. On offense, Deng is used in the pick-and-roll, off screens, on post-ups and one-on-one.

"If you're not paying attention to him, he can do a lot of damage," Thibodeau said. "He does everything."

Deng is doing it even as he remains involved in his native Sudan. A refugee who left with his family when he was 5, he lived in Egypt and England before moving to the USA when he was 14.

Sudan has been marred by a violent civil war. But in a referendum in early January, Sudanese in the south voted to secede from the north and become a separate country.

Deng hired buses to bring Sudanese refugees living in Michigan to a voting center in Illinois.

"Anywhere you have kids, there's a future," said Deng, who visited Sudan during the summer for the first time since leaving in the early 1990s. "The referendum, I think it's great."