Miami @ Chicago

This series was eagerly anticipated as one that was going to be for the ages. The Bulls held the Eastern crown all year with a dominating performance to go 63-19, and sweep easily through the 1^st round, while the Heat were 2^nd most of the year before injuries to Jonathan Isaac and finally Ben Simmons caused a little slide to eventually finish 4^th with a 51-31 record. It had been widely reported however that if it weren’t for those injuries, the Heat would have challenged the Bulls for the top spot behind elite coaching with a long and versatile roster. We finally got to see them dual it out, and the pundits were near split at 53% to 47%, in the favour of the Bulls.

Game 1 in Chicago ended up being completely against what everyone thought would be a tight, hard fought match up. The anticipation was high but the Bulls looked refreshed and ready, and they blasted out of the gate to the tune of a 20 point lead at the 1^st break. The game never really kicked off from there. McCollum and Simmons did their best, combining for 63 of the teams 106 points, but only one other player reached double figures and the Bulls saw their ever balanced attack and pesky defence take control behind Davis’ 30 and 17. 6 players would hit double figures, with pretty much 3 guys in the 20s. 1-0 Chicago.

Game 2 in Chicago and the Heat came full throttle in this one. They changed up their line up to go big against Davis, starting Bamba, and they held an 8 point lead heading into half time as a result. DeAndre Jordan was doing his best Jokic impression all game with an 18/12/7/3 line, which really helped the Simmons/McCollum pairing which again combined for 56, but the 3^rd quarter saw the Bulls leading at the end of the 3^rd and hold on through the 4^th. Davis dominated Bamba to the tune of 38/17/8 and all 5 Bulls starters again hit double digits. 2-0 Bulls.

Game 3 in Miami and it was going to be now or never for the Heat. They came out all guns blazing and got their best team performance of the series so far with 5 guys hitting double figures. Simmons neared a triple double and Bamba had an astonishing 10 blocks, but it wasn’t enough. The Bulls lead by 9 at the half and protected the ball better, as well as dominated the offensive rebounds and that overcame the Heat’s sharpshooting to allow them to run out with it. They had 5 guys in double figures themselves, led by Davis of course with 34, and Lou Will was on fire with 6-9 from deep and 27 points as they took the 3^rd game and neared the series death stroke. 3-0 Chicago.

Game 4 and Miami changed it up again to try one final time to arrest a game back from the Bulls and continue their Finals hopes. Alas, right from the go it was a Chicago game again. They led by 9 after one, 16 at the half, 22 at ¾ and that was the final margin. They had 5 guys in double figures with Davis leading with a 28/16 game, but Gordon and Randle combined for 34 off the bench as they got a little more run as the series was clearly winding down. Turnovers were the story, again mostly due to the pesky defence of the Bulls and their quick hands. Simmons/McCollum combined for 53 again, but it wasn’t enough as the Heat were vanquished. 4-0 Chicago.

Congratulations to the Bulls for again having all the answers for whatever their opponent threw at them, as they have all season. Davis was the series MVP leading all scorers with 32.5 points, but adding 15.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals to boot. The Heat will restock and reboot. They got some promising performances from Bamba in this series to look for in the future including averaging 4.5 blocks per game and they have Isaac’s return to look forward to too.

Good luck to the Bulls for the Eastern Conference Finals!

- NSL Insider News.