Miami wins Game 2, 85-75
LeBron James and the Heat pull away down the stretch to even the series with a Game 2 win. James scores 29 points, while Dwyane Wade has 24 and Udonis Haslem adds 13.
LeBron James scored 29 points and Dwyane Wade had 24 to lead the Miami Heat to an 85-75 victory Wednesday over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center, tying the Eastern Conference finals at 1-1. The Bulls shot horribly from the field (34.1 percent) and from the line (61.5 percent). Derrick Rose scored 21 points but made only seven of 23 shots.
THE FACTS II: The Heat got a huge bench effort from Udonis Haslem, who had 13 points and five rebounds. The Bulls, meanwhile, had only one player other than Rose in double figures, and Luol Deng only had two of his 13 points in the second half. The Bulls bench, which contributed 33 points in Game 1, had only 20 points in Game 2.
QUOTABLE: "I don't know if the basketball aficionado likes a 14-10 score in the fourth quarter, but that's probably what it is going to come down to."
-- Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat outscored the Bulls 14-10 in the fourth quarter Wednesday.
THE STAT: The Heat took 14 less shots and two less free throws than the Bulls in the game. The Bulls had eight offensive rebounds in the game's first 5 1/2 minutes but scored only five points off those second chances.
THE STAT II: Carlos Boozer, who had 14 points and nine rebounds in Game 1, contributed just seven points with eight rebounds in Game 2.
TURNING POINT: The game was tied at 73 with 7:16 left when James took over, scoring nine of the Heat's last 12 points. The other points came from Wade at the free-throw line. The Bulls went 1-for-11 from the field down the stretch.
INJURY UPDATE: The game was stopped for several minutes with 4:36 remaining when both Wade of the Heat and Omer Asik of the Bulls had severe cuts. Wade was bleeding from the elbow and Asik was bleeding from the neck.
HOT: Haslem was the best shooter in the game, making five of 10 attempts and all three of his free throws.
NOT: Rose was completely miserable from the field, going 7-for-23. He was short on many of his longer shots and could not convert on his drives to the basket.
QUOTABLE II: "When the ball was on the boards, they were in the fight."
-- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, referring to the Heat outrebounding the Bulls 45-41 Wednesday. The Bulls outrebounded the Heat 45-33 in Game 1.
QUOTABLE III: "If you don't like a defensive game, then you wouldn't like this one."
-- James, whose team held the Bulls to 34-percent shooting.
QUOTABLE IV: "I missed a lot of shots. It was just one of those nights."
-- Rose after missing 16 of 23 shots from the field
INSIDE THE ARENA: Former Bulls forward Dennis Rodman was at the United Center to present the game ball. Before the game, he spoke to reporters about the current Bulls. "I love their team; I love Joakim Noah,'' Rodman said. "He runs around with his head cut off sometimes, but I love it. He's more like me but taller. Tom (Thibodeau, Bulls coach) has put a great team together because he's very defensive-oriented and he's got these players believing you have to play defense first."
GOOD MOVE: Spoelstra gave Haslem 23 minutes of playing time and Mike Miller 18 minutes. They combined for 15 points and 12 rebounds.
UP NEXT: Chicago @ Miami, Sunday, May 22 for Game 3
...