LeBron James said he's felt drained from a headcold, but he and the rest of his crew still managed to give the Bulls a headache Wednesday.
And if there's one thing on which apparently both teams agree, it's that this series, now tied at 1-1, isn't going to be easy.
"It was a fight, you know. It was tied towards the end and they wanted to fight tonight," said Bulls forward Luol Deng after the Heat's 85-75 win.
Chicago, down by 11 in the third quarter, tied the game on a basket by Taj Gibson with a little more than seven minutes to go and then squandered several chances to take the lead against the determined Heat. Chicago managed just one basket the rest of the way, scoring only 10 in the fourth quarter.
A late surge by James, who scored nine points in the final four minutes, did them in.
"That fourth quarter is probably what's going to epitomize this entire series," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "It's an absolutely street fight for both teams. It's physical basketball."
The Bulls shot only 34 percent and were 4 for 16 in the last period. MVP Derrick Rose was just 7-for-23 shooting, missing all four of his attempts in the fourth, and finishing with 21 points.
"You've got to give them credit. Their defense was outstanding," said Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau. "We're going to have to make corrections, learn from it and do a whole lot better down there. Defensively, we have to do a lot better. We have to clean a lot of things up."
Rose agreed.
"We can't afford to go out there and play like this, I know that," said Rose. "It was just one of them nights."
Games 3 and 4 are Sunday and next Tuesday back in Miami.
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| Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau and Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra separately take questions from the media after Miami's 85-75 win in Game 2. |
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| Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng talk about their Game 2 loss. |
