With a great defensive effort and a very strong game from LeBron James, the Miami Heat ended up winning Game 2 85-75, evening the series at a game apiece as the series moves to Miami.  In the game, the Heat were led by King James, who posted 29 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, giving the Heat another all-around effort that ended up being too much for the Heat.  But it certainly wasn’t just LeBron pitching in, however, as the Heat rallied around the presence of Udonis Haslem, who came off the bench to play 23 huge minutes after playing a very small role in the first two rounds.  Haslem provided an answer for the interior energy of Joakim Noah and the Heat found a nice balance, which proved to be too much for the Bulls.

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The Bulls are now in a great position to take complete control of the Eastern Conference Finals if they can pull off another home win tomorrow night.  Though the Heat came into Chicago playing as well as any team in the league outside of the Mavericks, the Bulls’ length and athleticism was a real problem for Miami in Game 1, ultimately limiting both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and giving the Bulls a huge opening game win.  With the win, the Bulls proved that they can compete with the Big 3 of Miami due to their overall defensive cohesion and solid role players surrounding superstar Derrick Rose, who had a phenomenal second half to help put away the Heat.

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Though the Heat started off looking very strong, eventually the length and defensive energy of the Bulls eventually came into play, helping the Bulls dominate the second half and win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals 103-82.  Derrick Rose was hitting jump shots right off the bat to start the game and ended up with 28 points on the night, leading the Bulls once again.  The Bulls have struggled in early portions of their first two playoff series, so this is a very good sign for the Bulls as they continue to look like a team capable of winning a championship.

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Though it was a close series for the most part, it wasn’t so much that on Thursday night in Atlanta.  With the Bulls one game away from the winning the series and moving on the Eastern Conference Finals, they pulled together and ended up shutting down the Hawks offense, giving them a 93-73 win in the process.  But this time it wasn’t just the Derrick Rose show as Carlos Boozer had his best game in the postseason, as the power forward put up 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting very well from the floor.  In the end, Boozer was 10 of 16 shooting and extended the Hawks defense with his outside touch.  Rose didn’t have to do nearly as much offensively with Boozer stepping up as the league MVP ended up with just 19 points, though he did add 12 assists.

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After winning a crucial Game 5, the Bulls will look to close Hawks in Atlanta tonight, a task that won’t be easy.  Even when the Bulls played well in the series, the Hawks stayed right with them and showed off their talent and athleticism, which was often overlooked heading into the postseason.  But even with the Hawks giving them some real fight, the Bulls made the crucial plays and locked down defensively in Game 5, which was enough to push them to a 3-2 series lead.  In the game, Derrick Rose was his usual spectacular self, though he got key contributions from Luol Deng and Taj Gibson as well.

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With the home crowd behind them, the Chicago Bulls proved to be too much for the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night in the United Center.  Led by the 33 points and nine assists of Derrick Rose, the Bulls played great basketball down the stretch and eventually were able to clamp down on the Hawks offense, leading them to a 95-83 win.  Luol Deng was also clutch from the very beginning, as he got the Bulls’ offense going in the first quarter and ended up with 23 points on the night.  Carlos Boozer still doesn’t look like the scorer he was on Utah, but he had a good defensive effort and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds on the night.  A crucial performance also came from Taj Gibson, who came off the bench to have an enormous fourth quarter to help put away the Hawks.

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With the Bulls and Hawks knotted at 2-2 in a brutal, hard-fought series so far, the two teams return to Chicago tonight for a crucial Game 5.  The Bulls came into the postseason as the number one overall seed in the playoffs, though they struggled a little bit with the Pacers and have found a match in the Atlanta Hawks.  With the Hawks’ exceptional athleticism, they’ve made it difficult for the Bulls and guys like Jeff Teague have really stepped up.  Josh Smith and Joe Johnson are also playing at an All-Star level, with Smith having nothing short of a spectacular Game 4 effort.  The Bulls would love to win Game 5 and re-take command of the series as they head back to Atlanta for Game 6.

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The Eastern Conference Semi-Finals are shaping up to be a deep series that will really test the resolve of the Chicago Bulls.  After taking a 2-1 lead due to a 44-point explosion by Derrick Rose in Game Three, the Hawks rallied around their home fans and came together to even the series.  Led by Josh Smith, the Hawks badly outplayed the Bulls in the fourth quarter, helping them ultimately notch the win 100-88.  Derrick Rose again scored plenty but shot just 12 of 32 from the court as the Hawks got a nice all-around effort.  Three Atlanta Hawks scored 20 points or more and five ended up in double figures, which proved to be more than enough to even the series.

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The Bulls were able to put together one of the best defensive performances of the year on Wednesday night, backed by a raucous home crowd eager to help the Bulls tie the series.  With that now accomplished, the Bulls will get their biggest test of the season so far as they head into Atlanta for two games this weekend – a stretch that will most likely determine the shape of the season.  After the Hawks shot the lights out in Game 1, the Bulls have proven that they’re capable of ratcheting up the defense and overcome poor shooting nights by Derrick Rose, which have actually become the norm so far in the postseason.

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The Chicago Bulls got tired of people talking about how they suddenly didn’t look like an elite team in Game 1 of the second round.  Though the Hawks hung with the Bulls for a little while, Chicago eventually crumbled then with their defensive intensity and ultimately put them away pretty early in the second half.  Ultimately, the Bulls scored just 86 points but one handedly, with the Hawks finishing with just 71.  Derrick Rose still didn’t shoot the ball well, though still poured in 25 points and dished out 10 assists on the night.  Joakim Noah was a big factor as well, as Noah scored 19 points despite shooting just eight times from the floor.  Noah also grabbed 14 boards to lead the team, while Luol Deng and Carloz Boozer also got into double-digits in rebounding.

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