The Chicago Bulls will have to face a Miami Heat squad on a roll as they come into the United Center on Wednesday night with a 27-game winning streak on the line. The Heat are just seven wins shy of breaking the Los Angeles Lakers streak of 33 consecutive victories set during the 1971-72 season.
The Bulls know they’ll have their hands full and they certainly respect what the Heat have accomplished with the streak.
"To win 27 in a row is impressive," said center Nazr Mohammed to ESPN Chicago after Tuesday’s practice session at the Berto Center. "But you know, it’s about one game at a time. We know (Wednesday) is a totally new day. When you start thinking about streaks and the pot of gold at the end, you skip steps. I hope they’re thinking about the 33 or whatever and we’re one of the steps they want to skip so we can go out there and try to get us a victory."
The Bulls and the Heat have had some very spirited and competitive games since the triumvirate of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined forces on South Beach. And even with Derrick Rose being sidelined this season, Chicago has still shown a lot of fight in their contests with Miami.
The Bulls beat the Heat in Miami, 96-89 back in their first meeting in January. A little more than a month later, Miami came into the United Center and crushed Chicago 86-67 – it was the Bulls lowest offensive output this season. Wednesday night’s matchup will be their third, with Miami and Chicago’s final showdown coming next month.
But the Bulls mantra has been "one game at a time," and they’re treating Wednesday’s game just like any other.
"I think (media members) get caught up in that more than we do," head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "For us it’s about improvement and playing our best going down the stretch and hopefully be as healthy as possible. The important thing is not to get caught up in the hoopla and understand what goes into winning and to stay focused on those things. A big part of that is knowing your opponent well, coming out, concentrating, playing hard with an edge for 48 minutes."
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