Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls: Eastern Conference Finals Preview

05/13/11

With the Chicago Bulls winning their series last night against the Atlanta Hawks, we now have one of the best matchups in this years NBA Playoffs.

We will get to see MVP Derrick Rose clash with former 2-Time MVP Lebron James, and superstars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

This series could go 7 games, and have some of the most exciting highlights to come.

The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat during the regular season all 3 times they faced each other. But, the Miami Heat are a different team than they were during the regular season. Right now they are meshing better than ever, and playing extremely good defense. It will be interesting to see what types of scores the games will end up, as both of these teams are extremely good on the defense of end.

The keys to the Bulls success:

1. Carlos Boozer HAS to play well, and by well, I mean extremely well. They cannot afford to get the same type of production they got from him in the previous series. He must be tough on the boards, and be an offensive threat to relieve Derrick Rose of all that scoring pressure.

2. Derrick Rose can't be taking 30+ shots a game. He just can't. They will lose every single time that happens. Rose needs to be the distributor, drive the lane and draw fouls on the Heat defense. Make them be the reactor, and be aggressive.

3. Hold the Heat from having too many easy fast break points that gets the crowd ignited. If they can limit their own turnovers, and force the Heat to play more of a half court offense, that should bode well for the Bulls.

4. Kyle Korver. Any basketball fan will know why. His shooting stretches the floor so much for the Bulls, and they could use somebody to really make the defense think twice about collapsing the lane on Rose.

The keys to the Heat success:

1. It's obvious yes, but the Miami "Big 3" all have to produce, and with big numbers.

2. Chris Bosh has to put up big rebounding numbers, and really be the inside force for the Heat. Without some type of inside presence, the defense is going to focus all it's energy on Wade and Lebron. The Bulls are too good of a defensive team to allow that and still get a victory.

3. The bench. Somebody from the Heat bench has to step up. Whether it be Mike Bibby, James Jones, or even Mike Miller.

4. Another simple and obvious point, but the Heat have to limit what Derrick Rose does. Either force him to shoot 30+ times, or limit him getting good open shots for his teammates.


I'm looking forward for this star studded matchup. Whoever wins will be heading to the NBA Championship.

Either way, this years Championship game will have 2 brand new teams in it.

Image Source Page: http://theburnesblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/derrick-roses-path-to-superstardom/