DPA/Chicago, Illinois
The mighty Miami Heat blew into the Windy City and got blown out by the Chicago Bulls. |
Carlos Boozer scored 27 points, Joakim Noah had 17 with 15 rebounds, and the Bulls manhandled the two-time defending NBA Champs 107-87 on Thursday.
“I think the people in this city, there’s something about when Miami comes to town. You wake up in the morning and feel it,” Noah said.
“People in this city, they don’t like the Miami Heat. We don’t like the Miami Heat. It always feels good to beat them.”
Luol Deng netted 20 points, while Taj Gibson added 19 off the bench for Chicago (8-9), which led by as many as 25 and won for just the second time in the last eight games.
“Everybody just stepped up,” Gibson said, “Joakim set the tone. He was rebounding the ball and scoring. It was a great win.”
Two weeks after undergoing season-ending knee surgery, Bulls All-Star guard Derrick Rose met with the media prior to the game and left the door open for a possible return, should they make the playoffs.
“If I’m healthy and the situation is right, I’m going to be back playing,” Rose said.
The Bulls didn’t miss their leader, bullying the undersized Heat all game long.
Behind 19 points from Boozer, the Bulls led 58-44 at halftime, shooting a sizzling 55% from the floor and dominating the boards 27-9.
“Getting the lead early was important for us,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The rebounding was a huge factor and we made shots.”
The onslaught continued as the lead swelled to 25 before the Bulls took an 85-63 cushion into the final frame.
An 18-8 run to open the fourth quarter pulled the Heat to within 93-81 on Norris Cole’s runner with 5 minutes 38 seconds left. But Gibson answered with a jumper, Deng drained a 3-pointer and Boozer added two free throws, pushing the lead to 100-81 for the win.
LeBron James scored 21 points, Michael Beasley had 15 for the Heat (14-5) who without ailing star guard Dwyane Wade, shot 42% and was dominated on the boards 49-27, to suffer their worst loss since a 34-point drubbing to Washington on April 26, 2012.
“They never let up, they pounded us the entire night and we never able to get over their physicality,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They deserved to win this game. We did not step up to the challenge tonight and they got whatever they wanted.”
Elsewhere, Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Iman Shumpert netted a season-high 17 points, and the struggling Knicks snapped their nine-game losing streak after routing the host Nets 113-83 in the battle of New York.
Italy’s Andrea Bargnani scored 16 as the Knicks (4-13) shot a sizzling 57%, and 16-of-27 from behind the arc for their first win since November 13 at Atlanta.
Brook Lopez had 24 points with nine rebounds for the Nets (5-14), who were outscored 34-16 in the game-breaking third quarter en route to their sixth straight home loss and ninth in the last 11 games overall.