Heat return home, seeking any way to stop Bulls in playoff series
Published: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | 4:07 PM ET
Canadian Press: TIM REYNOLDS
MIAMI (AP) - From Pat Riley’s perspective, the biggest reason why his Miami Heat have dropped the first two games of their series with the Chicago Bulls is not Luol Deng’s scoring or Ben Gordon’s rhythm.
Instead, Riley blames the New Jersey Nets. To secure the No. 2 seed for these Eastern Conference playoffs - plus get to the 50-win mark, a goal Chicago talked about all season - the Bulls needed only a win in New Jersey last week in their regular-season finale. But the Nets won that night, dropping Chicago to the No. 5 seed.
"Usually, born out of that kind of adversity comes something else," Riley said. "And I think you saw that in the first two games."
Now, it’s time for the Heat to respond to some big-time adversity.
The Bulls will fly to Miami on Thursday with a 2-0 lead in the first-round matchup against the defending NBA champions, who need home wins Friday night and Sunday afternoon to knot the series. Chicago took Saturday’s opener 96-91, then pulled away in the second half for a 107-89 victory Tuesday night.
"I know overconfidence is not going to be a problem," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "It’s just a matter of, can we be ready for what we’re about to encounter down there?"
