The Chicago Bulls flat out dominated the Heat in this game which was a mild surprise seeing how it was an elimination game on the defending World Champions home court. That shows how much the Bulls have grown as a basketball team. The score would have been worse if the Bulls would have shot the ball better as they only hit 38.1% from the floor yesterday.  Ben Gordon led the way for the Bulls with 24 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Luol Deng had another fantastic game to finish his great series against the Heat with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Ben Wallace was tough in the paint with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Andres Nocioni was busy again off of the bench with 11 points and 5 rebounds. Kirk Hinrich had another putrid game as he only shot 2 of 12 from the floor and he finished with only 6 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. The Bulls sweep the Heat 4-0 in the opening series and now are preparing to engage the Detroit Pistons in the 2nd round.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270429014

Ben Wallace 6-7 from the free-throw line? The Chicago Bulls swept the Miami Heat? Absolutely, it takes a decade for the Bulls to build and build and build. And now they are ready for battle.

They are no longer to be called “Baby Bulls”, they are now the BULLS with a capital B-U-L-L-S. They now understand how to win in times of pressure. They now have the chemistry that a team needs to go deeper to the playoffs.

With Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kir Hinrich, PJ Brown, and Ben Wallace as their fabulous five, the Bulls are ready to meet the challenges ahead. Of course we have …read more from the source

The Heat were leading this game by 12 points late in the third quarter but the Bulls never gave up. The Bulls outscored the Heat 32-20 in the 4th quarter to win the game and go up 3-0 on the defending World Champions. The Bulls hit the glass hard again and outrebounded the Heat 44-33 and that was a key to victory. Ben Gordon led the way for the Bulls with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Luol Deng was unstoppable as he abused the Heat again with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Kirk Hinrich stepped up and played his best game of the series with 22 points and 6 assists. Ben Wallace played his usual type game with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Andres Nocioni had another good game off of the bench with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots in only 28 minutes on the floor. The Bulls are now up 3-0 in this series.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270427014

The Chicago Bulls took it to the Miami Heat tonight! The Bulls shot 55.1% from the floor and they out-rebounded the Heat 38-30. The game was close at halftime but the Bulls came out of the lockerroom with a purpose and they outscored the Heat 52-37 in the 2nd half of the game. Ben Gordon was abusing D-Wade all night long as he wound up with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Luol Deng had another fantastic game as the Heat don’t have anyone capable of guarding him. Deng wound up with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Kirk Hinrich had a much better game tonight after his disaster in the first game of the series. He wound up with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists. P.J. Brown also had a solid game with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. The Bulls now lead this series 2-0.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270424004

The Chicago Bulls got a nice win to start the NBA Playoffs. The Bulls outrebounded the Heat 46-33 and they took the ball right to Shaq and caused him to foul out after only 27 minutes on the court. Luol Deng was unstoppable for the Bulls as his fantastic athletic ability was too much for the Heat to handle. He wound up with 33 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Deng shot an amazing 14 of 22 from the floor. Ben Gordon only shot 7 of 19 from the floor but he still wound up with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists. Andres Nocioni was fantastic off of the bench with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots in 30 minutes on the court. He also took the ball right to Shaq in the 4th quarter and drew his 6th foul. Kirk Hinrich had an awful game as he was in foul trouble the whole game. He only played 19 minutes and he was 1 for 7 from the floor winding up with only 2 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. The Bulls’ unsung hero was rookie guard Thabo Sefolosha who played 18 inspired minutes off the bench. He scored 9 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 2 assists but the biggest thing he did in the game was shutting down D-Wade and taking the game to him. The Bulls lead the series 1-0.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270421004

The Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat had a great series in the playoffs last season, but now the Bulls have added Ben Wallace and Dwyane Wade comes into the series a little gimpy. This should be a great series and here’s a closer look at how the matchups break down:

Point Guard: Kirk Hinrich is the starting point guard for the Bulls and he’s more of a combo guard as he can score in bunches. Jason “White Chocolate” Williams had an off year due to knee problems for the Heat. Hinrich averaged 16.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game this season. He is really the #2 or #3 option on offense behind Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Hinrich is a good shooter that will help the Bulls stretch the Heat’s defense. Jason Williams also is not a pure point guard as he averaged 10.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season. He also is a good shooter from the perimeter. EDGE: BULLS

Shooting Guard: If Dwyane Wade wasn’t playing with an injured shoulder, this would be a huge edge for the Heat. But, he’s gimpy with his bad shoulder and looks un-willing to take the basketball to the hole which takes away his best weapon as a basketball player. He averaged 27.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game this season, but his numbers have been way down since his return from a dislocated left shoulder. Ben Gordon of the Bulls will give Wade fits on defense as he’s just a great offensive basketball player. He can go long range with his shot or he has a good middle-range game just like Richard Hamilton does. Gordon averaged 21.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He’s likely to have a huge series against the Heat. EDGE: SLIGHT BULLS

SMALL FORWARD: The Bulls’ Luol Deng is a player on the rise. He averaged 18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. He’s an excellent athlete who excels in the open court and he always hustles which leads to some easy baskets for him. The Heat are going to start Eddie Jones at small forward because of his defense and long range shooting. He averaged 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. EDGE: BULLS

POWER FORWARD: Udonis Haslem is a player that brings his hard hat to the court and does the dirty work as he plays good defense and is a solid rebounder. Haslem averaged 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Veteran P.J. Brown will start for the Bulls in this series. He averaged 6.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Look for Brown to rebound well and give Dwyane Wade a few hard fouls in this series. EDGE: HEAT

CENTER: Shaquille O’Neal knows that it’s now SHOWTIME. Look for him to flip the switch and still show why he’s the best center in the NBA. During the regular season O’Neal averaged 17.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Look for O’Neal to have better numbers than that in this series as he will throw his weight around in the key. Ben Wallace won’t back down from Shaq in the paint. He averaged 6.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. Wallace is the ultimate hustle player and his energy rubs off on his teammates.  EDGE: HEAT

BENCH: The Miami Heat have a real deep bench and they will get to play a lot in this series. Jason Kapono is the 3-point gunner on the Heat as he started about half of the season. He averaged 10.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game this season. Antoine Walker is a player that the Heat will need to play well if they’re going to beat the Bulls. He only averaged 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game this season. If motivated, he can still carry a team in short spurts on offense. Alonzo Mourning is also a key in this series as he provides energy, defense and rebounding off of the bench. He averaged 8.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game this season. James Posey was a key in the Heat’s championship run of last season. Posey averaged 7.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season. The Heat will need his outside shooting off of the bench. Gary Payton had an awful season but he’ll likely get some minutes in this series to give White Chocolate a break once in a while. He only averaged 5.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game this season.

The Bulls bench will also be important in this series. Andres Nocioni is finally healthy and he’ll probably get starters minutes at power forward for the Bulls. He brings incredible energy to the court and it rubs of on his teammates. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Chris Duhon will back up both Hinrich and Gordon as he can play either guard position. He averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game this season. Rookie Tyrus Thomas will cause problems for the Heat when he’s on the court because of his immense athletic ability. He averaged 5.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Reserve guard Adrian Griffin could also play an important role as he’s a good defender who does the little things well on the court. He only averaged 2.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game this season. EDGE: HEAT

PREDICTION:Â I like the Bulls to beat the Heat in 6 games because the Heat is a little to banged up, unmotivated and old to hang with the younger Bulls.

The grade could have been higher if the Bulls would have let their rookies play more, but no one can argue with the results the Bulls had by playing their veteran players over the rookies. Tyrus Thomas has big-time athletic ability, now he just needs his game to catch up. He played in 72 games last season and he averaged 13.4 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. It’s possible that if his game matures that he could be the starting power forward for the Bulls next season. Thabo Sefolosha (G/F) played in 71 games this season and he averaged 3.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Sefolosha will likely be a key reserve for the Bulls next season.

The Chicago Bulls finished in 3rd place in the Central Division with a 49-33 record, 4 games behind the Pistons. The Bulls were excellent at home with a 31-10 record, but they were only 18-23 on the road. The Bulls dominated the Eastern Conference with a 36-16 record in it and they had the best record against Division teams as they were 12-4. They averaged 98.8 points while allowing only 93.8. The Bulls go into the playoffs having won 7 of their last 10 games.

The Chicago Bulls might need to win Wednesday’s finale at New Jersey to hold the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference and avoid a first round matchup with the Miami Heat. The Cavaliers have two games left (tonight against the Sixers in Philly, and Wednesday at home against the Bucks). If the Cavs lose tonight to the Sixers the Bulls will be able to rest some of their regulars tomorrow night as they will have wrapped up the #2 seed in the East. But, it’s entirely possible that the Cavs win both of those games and that would mean that the Nets would have to win tomorrow’s game at New Jersey. The Bulls hold the tiebreaker with the Cavs who are a 1/2 game behind the Bulls. Still, the Bulls are very hot as they have won 8 of their last 10 games and their last 3 in a row.Â

With Ben Wallace a little bit nicked up the last two weeks the Bulls needed someone to step up and Tyrus Thomas has. He has played in 5 games the last two weeks and he’s averaged 13.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. He also is shooting an amazing 61% from the floor in those 5 games. The Bulls have been waiting for Thomas to mature as a player to take advantage of his outstanding athletic ability and it seems like he’s finally starting to get it.