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Bulls chill Heat; James nets 15
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Miami Heat's LeBron James, left, drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls' Luol Deng during the first quarter in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals basketball series Sunday, May 15, 2011 in Chicago.
Associated Press
CHICAGO
Derrick Rose scored 28 points, Luol Deng contained LeBron James and the Chicago Bulls struck first in the Eastern Conference finals, pulling away to beat the Miami Heat 103-82 in Game 1 on Sunday night.
The Bulls are off to a good start in this series after sweeping the Heat during the regular season. They went on a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth.
As the final minutes ticked away, fans could not contain themselves, chanting “Over-rated!” and “Beat the Heat!”
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Chicago, and they’ll certainly take another performance like this.
Rose settled down after committing three early turnovers and showed why he is the MVP. He hit three 3-pointers and the Bulls converted 10 of 21 in all.
Deng had 21 points. He hit four 3s, had four steals, seven rebounds and simply put the clamps on The King, holding James to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Carlos Boozer added 14 points and nine rebounds. Joakim Noah had 14 rebounds and the Bulls pounded the Heat on the glass, 45-33. Chris Bosh led Miami with 30 points and nine rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 18 points, but the Heat simply were overmatched down the stretch.
The Heat were leading 58-57 midway through the third when the Bulls made their run, reeling off 10 straight and seizing the momentum.
Rose and Bogans started it by nailing 3-pointers. A steal by Bogans against Wade led to two free throws by Rose after he got knocked to the floor going for a fast-break layup.
Then, after a timeout, Noah blocked a layup by Wade and scored seconds later on a layup off an inbounds along the Bulls’ baseline, making it 67-58. The Heat’s James Jones stopped the run with a 3, but the Bulls simply weren’t about to be stopped.
When Deng hit a 3 with 1:15 left, the crowd jumped to its feet and let out a roar. More important, that started a 14-3 run that stretched into the fourth and put this one away.
Whether it was Boozer feeding Omer Asik for a dunk early in the fourth or Deng racing in to put back his own missed jumper after a 3 by James, there was plenty for the Chicago fans to cheer during that stretch. They were loving it when Ronnie Brewer stole pass from Mario Chalmers and hit two free throws, then dunked to make it 80-66.