INDIANAPOLIS —
Trailing in a playoff series for the first time since the 2011 NBA Finals, the Heat used its off day Friday to rest its growing list of hurting players.

Miami canceled a scheduled practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and instead reviewed film and had a meeting at the team’s hotel. Media availability with the team also was canceled amid a national perception that the Heat is on the brink of a postseason meltdown. Miami will practice Saturday before returning to action Sunday for a critical Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“It’s a must-win, honestly, for us,” LeBron James said. “If we come here and split and go back home, we feel good about ourselves.”

As the Heat knows firsthand, the momentum of a playoff series can change quickly. On the brink of taking a commanding 3-1 lead against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals, the Heat faltered in Game 4.

For Miami, the roles are now reversed.

Still trying to adjust to the loss of Chris Bosh, the Heat couldn’t overcome a poor shooting night by Dwyane Wade in Game 3 and managed just 12 points in the third quarter. Wade finished the game with five points on 2-of-13 shooting, the Heat shot 4 of 20 from three-point range and the Pacers won the rebounding battle 52-36.

“We’ve got to make sure we come out of halftime with a little more sense of urgency,” said Udonis Haslem, who had three rebounds in less than eight minutes of action in Game 3. “Third quarters have been rough on us pretty much all year.”

Priority No. 1 for the Heat on Sunday will be reestablishing Wade offensively. In Game 3, he failed to score in the first half for the first time in 95 career postseason games.

“We’re not going to win a ballgame with Chris Bosh out and me scoring five points, so I put the onus on myself,” Wade said. “There’s frustration in that.

“Obviously, you want to give your team a chance to win.”

Bosh was lost to the series in Game 1 because of an abdominal strain. In Game 3, it was Wade who appeared to be breaking down physically. Wade wouldn’t reveal any specific injury, but he missed 15 games this season with various leg and hand injuries.

“He’s a little banged up right now but he’ll be fine,” James said. “This is the playoffs. He’ll use these next couple of days to rest his body.”

And also calm his nerves.

Wade’s frustrations boiled over in Game 3 during a timeout in the third quarter. After a heated exchange with coach Erik Spoelstra, Wade walked out of the Heat’s huddle and needed to be subdued by Haslem and veteran Juwan Howard. The discord added and extra level of a panic to Thursday’s collapse.

“We all want to win,” Haslem said. “We got a lot of alpha males in this locker room, so we encourage each other and get on each other’s cases when need be. But it’s all constructive criticism.”

After the game, Spoelstra downplayed the incident and called it “the least of our concerns.”

“Dwyane and I have been together a long time,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve been together through basically everything. That, really, is nothing. That’s the least of our concerns. That type of fire — that’s good. That’s the least of our concerns. Our concern is getting ready for Sunday.”

Adding to the Heat’s injury woes, point guard Mario Chalmers needed an X-ray on his wrist Thursday night after taking a hard fall during Game 3. Results revealed no structural damage, according to Chalmers.

“We have a lot of banged-up guys,” Spoelstra said. “You can see some of the players running up and down and sometimes they’re staggering, but we’re fine.”

Two years ago, many people thought the Heat would dominate the NBA for years to come.  Now, it seems the Big 3 might not even get a chance to win one title together.

With Miami in trouble of being eliminated from the second round of the playoffs, the Heat could be looking to break up their nucleus of superstars.

The Heat trail the Pacers 2-1 in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the Pacers, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN says this could be the last shot for this group to win it all. Windhorst, who covers Miami for the World Wide Leader, told “Mike and Mike in the Morning” that the team will consider trading one of its All-Stars if they end up getting bounced by Indiana.

Miami hasn’t had the postseason success it originally hoped for, and will have trouble improving its team because of the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. According to Windhorst, the Heat may look to move Dwyane Wade in return for a few good players, instead of another star.

Wade may be the most logical person for the Heat to trade.

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LeBron James is playing the best ball of his career, winning his third MVP in four seasons. Wade is better than Chris Bosh, but Miami would not get as much in return for the forward.

Wade is still considered an elite player, but scouts say his best years are behind him. He has played a lot of games in his career, and is injury prone. As a result, he has trouble when the Heat don’t have a lot of rest in between games.

Miami’s strategy of signing older veterans to come off the bench hasn’t worked out very well, and moving Wade would allow them to acquire younger players that would better compliment their core. Aging players like Shane Battier and Mike Miller have not produced as Miami had hoped.

Trading Wade might be the best basketball move, but it probably wouldn’t be the best public relations decision. He is the most popular player on the team, even more so than LeBron James. He helped bring Miami its first championship, and is the best player in the history of the franchise.

There’s still a chance that the Heat can turn this around. They only trail the Pacers by a game, and could get even stronger later in the postseason if Bosh returns from his injury.

But if the Heat underachieve for a second straight year, the Big 3 might turn into the Big 2 by the start of the 2012-2013 Season.

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Miami Heat forward LeBron James holds up his NBA MVP trophy before the start of Game 1 in an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, April 13, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI – LeBron James got his trophy, and then he and Dwyane Wade made sure the Miami Heat got a win in Game 1.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in his first game as a three-time MVP, Wade finished with 29 despite struggling from the floor, and the Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 95-86 to open their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday.

Chris Bosh scored 13 points for Miami, but left late in the first half with a lower abdominal injury and did not return, with the Heat saying he was scheduled for an MRI to determine the extent of the problem. The Heat outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth, with Wade and James combining for 22 of those points.

Wade and James outscored Indiana 42-38 in the second half.

“It’s a battle and we know, regardless of being at home, being away, who we’re playing, what round, it’s tough to win in the playoffs and you have to fight for every single possession,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that’s what it was.”

David West and Roy Hibbert each scored 17 points and combined for 23 rebounds for the Pacers, who got 10 points each from Darren Collison and George Hill.

“I thought we were just on our heels a little too much,” West said.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Miami.

The Heat never led by more than two until 9:20 remained in the game, when a layup by James gave Miami a 76-72 edge. Wade added another basket about 30 seconds later, and the margin eventually reached eight when James made two free throws with 7:52 left.

Back came Indiana, which got within 86-85 on a 3-pointer by Hill with 4:51 left after Miami went cold again. But one big flurry — capped by a dunk from James in transition and Wade coming from behind to block a shot by Paul George at the rim about a half-minute later — gave the Heat some breathing room.

Wade and James scored 20 straight Miami points in the fourth, a string ended by a free throw from Joel Anthony with 1:05 left. After Hibbert missed a jumper on the next Indiana possession, James connected with 31.8 seconds left for a 95-86 Miami lead, and it was soon over.

“Definitely not our best game,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t shoot it very well. … It came down to execution in the fourth quarter and you’ve got to give credit to Miami’s defence.”

Wade shot only 8 for 23 from the field, and the Heat missed all six of their attempts from 3-point range — a first in team playoff history. But the Heat held a 45-38 rebounding edge, and allowed Indiana to make only 11 of 37 shots after halftime.

Danny Granger shot 1 for 10 for Indiana, scoring only seven points.

“I don’t know if he’s going to have a huge offensive series,” Vogel said. “When you have to guard the MVP for 38 minutes, it takes a lot out of your offensive game.”

Commissioner David Stern was on hand to present James with his MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony that was capped by the Heat star telling fans how “electricity” was going to be important throughout the playoffs.

One team came out electrified — and it wasn’t Miami.

The Pacers trailed for only 56 seconds in the first half, never down by more than a basket. Indiana opened the game with an 11-4 run, held Miami to 37 per cent shooting in the first two quarters, and rode the strength of a 19-6 edge in bench scoring to take a 48-42 lead going into halftime — surviving some foul trouble as well.

Of the 10 players Vogel used in the first half, seven had at least two fouls, and Hill had three.

But by then, Miami had a bigger problem to address.

The Heat announced during halftime that Bosh would not return because of a lower abdominal injury. Bosh shot 6-for-11 in the first half, the last three of his points coming with 1:06 remaining after a dunk while getting fouled by Hibbert. Bosh remained down for a few moments, then got up slowly and made his free throw.

While going back down to the defensive end, Bosh started limping and grabbing at his midsection. He eventually fell to his knees in pain, and was replaced by Ronny Turiaf with 43.6 seconds left. Bosh was grimacing as he headed to the Heat locker room for evaluation, as his wife covered an anguished look on her face while watching from courtside.

“It’s unfortunate Chris went down,” Wade said. “But we told him, ‘Be healthy. We got ‘em.”

Even with Bosh out, things started going Miami’s way in the third quarter. The Heat held the Pacers to 31 per cent shooting in the period, and Anthony’s dunk off an assist from Wade tied the game heading to the fourth at 70-all. And the foul trouble compounded for Indiana early in the third, when Hill ran over Mario Chalmers with 8:26 left.

Hill was trying to get to the Pacers’ bench area to call timeout. Chalmers got in front of him near midcourt, held his ground and referee Scott Foster called Hill for the charge — his fifth foul, as Vogel argued otherwise. Vogel was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Saturday for comments he made last week about how he believes the Heat flop too much in efforts to get calls from referees.

“He was just manipulating the refereeing or trying to,” Stern said in a televised interview during the game. “I would have fined him much more than our office did. But I tell you what, I think it’s a legitimate concern. Some years ago, I told the competition committee that we were going to start fining people for flopping and then suspending. … It’s not a legitimate play in my judgment.”

NOTES: Wade is appearing in his 18th playoff series with Miami, one more than Alonzo Mourning for the most in Heat franchise history. … The fans in Miami booed when a foul was given to George in the fourth quarter — his fifth — and not assessed to Hibbert. Had the foul been on Hibbert, it would have been his sixth personal. George fouled out about 2 minutes later. … It was Miami’s 13th straight post-season win at home against East opponents.

MIAMI (AP) – LeBron James got his trophy, and then he and Dwyane Wade made sure the Miami Heat got a win in Game 1.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in his first game as a three-time MVP, Wade finished with 29 despite struggling from the floor, and the Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 95-86 to open their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday.

Chris Bosh scored 13 points for Miami, but left late in the first half with a lower abdominal injury and did not return. The Heat outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth, with Wade and James combining for 22 of those points.

David West and Roy Hibbert each scored 17 points and combined for 23 rebounds for the Pacers, who got 10 points each from Darren Collison and George Hill.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Miami.

The Heat never led by more than two until 9:20 remained in the game, when a layup by James gave Miami a 76-72 edge. Wade added another basket about 30 seconds later, and the margin eventually reached eight when James made two free throws with 7:52 left.

Back came Indiana, which got within 86-85 on a 3-pointer by Hill with 4:51 left after Miami went cold again. But one big flurry – capped by a dunk from James in transition and Wade coming from behind to block a shot by Paul George at the rim about a half-minute later – gave the Heat some breathing room.

Wade and James scored 20 straight Miami points in the fourth, a string ended by a free throw from Joel Anthony with 1:05 left. After Hibbert missed a jumper on the next Indiana possession, James connected with 31.8 seconds left for a 95-86 Miami lead, and it was soon over.

Wade shot only 8 for 23 from the field, and the Heat missed all six of their attempts from 3-point range – a first in team playoff history. But the Heat held a 45-38 rebounding edge, and allowed Indiana to make only 11 of 31 shots after halftime.

Danny Granger shot 1 for 10 for Indiana, scoring only seven points.

Commissioner David Stern was on hand to present James with his MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony that was capped by the Heat star telling fans how “electricity” was going to be important throughout the playoffs.

One team came out electrified – and it wasn’t Miami.

The Pacers trailed for only 56 seconds in the first half, never down by more than a basket. Indiana opened the game with an 11-4 run, held Miami to 37 percent shooting in the first two quarters, and rode the strength of a 19-6 edge in bench scoring to take a 48-42 lead going into halftime – surviving some foul trouble as well.

Of the 10 players Indiana coach Frank Vogel used in the first half, seven had at least two fouls, and Hill had three.

But by then, Miami had a bigger problem to address.

The Heat announced during halftime that Bosh would not return because of a lower abdominal injury. Bosh shot 6-for-11 in the first half, the last three of his points coming with 1:06 remaining after a dunk while getting fouled by Hibbert. Bosh remained down for a few moments, then got up slowly and made his free throw.

While going back down to the defensive end, Bosh started limping and grabbing at his midsection. He eventually fell to his knees in pain, and was replaced by Ronny Turiaf with 43.6 seconds left. Bosh was grimacing as he headed to the Heat locker room for evaluation, as his wife covered an anguished look on her face while watching from courtside.

Even with Bosh out, things started going Miami’s way in the third quarter. The Heat held the Pacers to 31 percent shooting in the period, and Anthony’s dunk off an assist from Wade tied the game heading to the fourth at 70-all. And the foul trouble compounded for Indiana early in the third, when Hill ran over Mario Chalmers with 8:26 left.

Hill was trying to get to the Pacers’ bench area to call timeout. Chalmers got in front of him near midcourt, held his ground and referee Scott Foster called Hill for the charge – his fifth foul, as Vogel argued otherwise. Vogel was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Saturday for comments he made last week about how he believes the Heat flop too much in efforts to get calls from referees.

“He was just manipulating the refereeing or trying to,” Stern said in a televised interview during the game. “I would have fined him much more than our office did. But I tell you what, I think it’s a legitimate concern. Some years ago, I told the competition committee that we were going to start fining people for flopping and then suspending. … It’s not a legitimate play in my judgment.”

NOTES: Wade is appearing in his 18th playoff series with Miami, one more than Alonzo Mourning for the most in Heat franchise history. … The fans in Miami booed when a foul was given to George in the fourth quarter – his fifth – and not assessed to Hibbert. Had the foul been on Hibbert, it would have been his sixth personal. George fouled out about 2 minutes later. … It was Miami’s 13th straight postseason win at home against East opponents.

(© 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

LeBron James arrived with great expectations, joining Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat two years ago with talk of multiple NBA titles and the jaw-dropping acrobatic plays that made him a star.

After falling short last year by losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, the Heat went 46-20 this season to earn a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs behind NBA overall leader Chicago.

That will send the Heat into a first-round matchup starting at home on Saturday against the New York Knicks. The Heat went 3-0 against New York during the regular season.

“I’m looking forward to it,” James said of the playoffs. “I’ve been ready for this moment for a while.”

While the focus will be on making this season a success, the Heat will take inspiration from having lost last year’s best-of-seven championship final to the Mavericks in six games.

“I’m a firm believer of moving on,” Wade said. “But, also, I think, for us, we have to have guys take a minute and go back to that dark place and how we felt and understand what we’re shooting for and what we want to get back to.

“Obviously, we’ve got to look back and we’ve got to feel that pain a little bit to remember.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says the entire roster is ready despite Wade missing the final three games of the season with a dislocated left index finger and Bosh sitting out the last six with a right hamstring strain.

“We would have loved to have an extra day, but it is what it is,” James said of time to heal. “I do like to prepare a lot longer than one day.”

Whereas the Heat stars were still coming together last year even after a full season together, they know each other much better this time around.

“We’re more comfortable with one another heading into this post-season,” James said. “Last year, we were playing a lot off instinct.”

Miami players also know what they are getting with the Heat. James figures to see a lot of Carmelo Anthony, his 2008 US Olympic gold medal teammate, and Bosh will be tested by Amare Stoudemire.

New York’s inside players will try to open up 3-point shooting chances for J.R. Smith and others.

“We know that we’ve got to run ‘em off the 3-point line, try to contain them from getting layups,” Wade said. “It’s kind of what we’ve been working on.”

Wade said the Heat players know their roles better than they did a year ago.

“We have done a good job of figuring out who’s going to close games and that’s not always meaning it’s going to come out to a positive result, but we’re comfortable with who has the ball at the end,” Wade said.

“It’s not that, ‘Maybe-I-should, maybe-I-shouldn’t’ thing. I think we’ve figured it out. It’s unspoken.”

Bosh could miss some time with the Heat in the second round because his wife, Adrienne, is expecting their third child in mid-May.

“I’ve got a beeper,” Bosh said. “When it goes off, I’ll be ready. We’ll see what happens.”

When Dwyane Wade went down with a dislocated left index finger early in Saturday night’s loss to the Wizards, LeBron James wanted to come in and help his teammates.

But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, looking to rest his Big 3 before the playoffs, “put the plug on me,” James said.

There was nothing that could keep James off the court Sunday night — not even a game that probably won’t mean much for the Heat when it comes to seeding in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Playing with the same intensity he has all season, James put on another MVP-worthy performance on Fan Appreciation Night, finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Heat rallied for a 97-88 victory that knocked the Houston Rockets out of playoff contention.

The Heat (46-18) still has dim hopes of overtaking Chicago for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. But they need the Bulls (48-16) to lose their final two games — at Indiana Wednesday and home versus Cleveland Thursday. The Heat, meanwhile, must win Tuesday in Boston and Thursday at Washington.

“I love the game and that’s what it’s about,” said James, who scored at least 30 points for the 24th time this season, tying him with Kobe Bryant for the most in the NBA.

“I just like being out there with my teammates, playing the game. I’m happy to contribute to get a win on this homestand.”

With Wade and Chris Bosh sitting out, the Heat fielded its 16th different starting lineup of the season with James starting alongside Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, James Jones and Dexter Pittman.

Point guard Mario Chalmers also sat out for the first time since Feb. 8 due to flu-like symptoms.

Slow start

And things didn’t start well.

The Heat missed its first six shots and trailed 23-10 in the opening quarter before going on a 17-6 run to take a one-point lead at the half. Mike Miller’s three-pointer with 25 seconds left gave the Heat its first and only lead of the half at 45-44.

Former Florida Gator Chandler Parsons scored a career-high 23 points for the Rockets (33-32) and helped Houston build a 79-73 lead with 6:31 remaining in the game.

But James rallied the Heat, hitting a three-pointer with 2:45 left that put Miami up for good at 86-83. Miller hit a three on the Heat’s following possession to give Miami more cushion.

‘Special season’

James scored 12 points in all in the fourth quarter.

“Kevin Durant and the Thunder have had a great year and played great. I just think LeBron has had a special, special season,” said Heat forward Shane Battier when asked who was deserving of the league MVP. “Some of my boys on Houston [where Battier played before] just shook their heads and said, ‘That guy is animal.’ I’m like: ‘I know. That’s what I’ve been telling you guys.’ ”

Cole finished with 16 points. Joel Anthony, who provided a nice lift off the bench, added 11 points and six rebounds. Miller finished with 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting.

“Those are the kind of wins that coaches like,” Spoelstra said. “Segments of the game that were tough and ugly. We went through spells offensively where the ball was not going in.

“But we were able to stay in it offensively, weather offensive storms and break the game open at the end. Good team win. It was nice to have LeBron back. But other guys stepped up.”

With the win, the Heat concluded their home schedule with a league-best 28-5 record. It is the second-best home winning percentage in franchise history. The .848 win percentage ranks second all-time only to the 35-6 home record (.854) the Heat posted in 2004-05.

The Miami Heat bounced back from consecutive losses against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, defeating the Charlotte Bobcats 105-82 on April 13. The Heat were without the services of shooting guard Dwyane Wade, but that didn’t affect their play in any way.

The Heat came out blazing against the Bobcats, building up a 14 point lead by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the Heat had stretched their lead to 19 points, never looking back on their way to the victory.

Miami’s defense was certainly a factor in their win against the Bobcats, and it seems like they’re finally getting back to playing hard on the defensive end.

LeBron James led Miami’s offense against the Bobcats, finishing with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Chris Bosh was right behind him, putting up 18 points and 7 rebounds.

“We could’ve come in here and really dragged and had a huge hangover from [Thursday night], but life goes on,” Bosh told reporters after the game. “We had a game to get and a chance to get better.”

After putting on a lackluster performance against the Bulls on April 12, Miami’s role players played a lot better against the Bobcats. The Heat even got an unexpected boost from Dexter Pittman, who finished with 16 points (shooting 64 percent from the field).

With their win against the Bobcats, the Heat move a little closer to the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings, currently trailing the Bulls by three and a half games. With only eight games left in the 2011/12 NBA season, their chances of securing the top spot are pretty slim. They’ll need to win their remaining games if they want to make a serious run for the top seed in the east, and it starts against the New York Knicks on April 15.

Regardless of what happens with the seeding in the Eastern Conference, the Heat will be fine come playoff time, as long as they return to the style of basketball they played earlier in the season.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 16 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Joseph Goodman, “Bobcats provide perfect prey for Miami Heat”

Player and game information from ESPN.com

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By SportsDirect

The Miami Heat will look for their 13^th straight home win, when they face the Orlando Magic on March 18. The Heat currently trail the Chicago Bulls by three games in the Eastern Conference standings, and it’s about time they start making their push for the top spot in the East.

The Heat ran into some trouble in their last encounter against the Magic, losing 104-98. Their inability to contain Dwight Howard — who finished with 24 points and 25 rebounds — definitely played a role in the overtime loss.

During the first half of the 2011/12 NBA season, the Heat were clearly the most dominant team in the league. Unfortunately for Miami fans, things haven’t been as clear since the All-Star break, with the Heat going 5-4 in their outings since the break.

“We’re a no-excuse team, and we’re going to continue to keep playing,” Dwyane Wade told reporters about their struggles. “We’re one of the top teams in the league with one of the best records in the league, and we’re going to go back home, try to get our energy up and try to get back to playing Miami Heat basketball and finish the last 20 [games] the same way.”

LeBron James led the Heat in their previous game against the Philadelphia 76ers, finishing with 29 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. LeBron’s performance was enough to carry the Heat through a rough second half against the 76ers, but they’ll need a lot more than that against the Magic.

“It’s never good to give up a 20-point lead,” LeBron told reporters about the game against the 76ers. “But when you have to close out a game, it’s good to see you can keep the lead and win.”

LeBron certainly has a point, as the Heat’s second half performance against the 76ers wasn’t very encouraging. A poor half like that against the Magic will pretty much guarantee a loss.

The Magic currently lead the season series between the two Eastern Conference powerhouses 2-1. The Heat will certainly have their hands full on Sunday, but they should be up to the task.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 16 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Stats LLC, “Magic-Heat Preview”

Joseph Goodman, “Miami Heat faces task of containing Dwight Howard again”

Player and game information from ESPN.com

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CHICAGO—

This wasn’t about being dominated on the boards, shaky shooting, too much isolation offense.

The Miami Heat solved those problems in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls.

No, this 85-75 Heat victory at the United Center was the essence of playoff basketball, the make-or-break moments that can define a series, the type of lockdown defense that breaks the will of the opposition.

“What I’ll take from this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “is how physical it was and how small a margin of error there is on both sides.”

Blown out in Sunday’s Game 1, the Heat this time got key late scoring from forward LeBron James and limited Chicago to 10 fourth-quarter points to take this best-of-seven series back to AmericanAirlines Arena for Sunday’s Game 3 tied 1-1.

“It was a great collective effort of endurance,” Spoelstra said. “We were able to play more to our identity.”

With James scoring 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting, guard Dwyane Wade adding 24 points, and Udonis Haslem providing unexpected inspiration off the bench with 13 points and five rebounds, the Heat erased the sting of Sunday’s series-opening 103-82 loss to steal homecourt advantage.

“That fourth quarter is what’s going to epitomize this entire series,” Spoelstra said of the Heat outscoring Chicago 14-10 in the final period.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty, but with the Game 1 rebounding problem eliminated by Haslem’s energy, with James regaining his shooting stroke, and with the Heat less reliant on isolation scoring, a mere 21 points from guard Derrick Rose weren’t enough for Chicago.

“He missed some he normally makes,” Spoelstra acknowledged.

With the Heat limited to a single basket over a seven-minute span at the start of the fourth quarter by a Bulls defense living up to its league-best reputation, the game turned downright bloody with 4:36 to play, when Wade and Bulls backup center Omer Asik had to be treated for bleeding wounds after an earlier collision.

Out of that break, James converted a 3-pointer with 4:28 to play for a 76-73 Heat lead. Point guard Mike Bibby then came up with his own defensive moment, blocking a Luol Deng shot in transition.

James followed with a jumper with 3:15 to play for a 78-73 Heat lead.

Bulls forward Kyle Korver then rimmed out a 3-pointer, but James was called for traveling on the other end.

That’s when Game 1 dunking star Taj Gibson scored inside to bring Chicago within 78-75 with 2:29 to play.

Wade then earned his way to the line with 2:06 to play, his foul shots putting the Heat up 80-75.

The Heat held on from there.

“You got to give them credit,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Their defense was outstanding. I thought they were into us. They fought us.”

Said James, “If you don’t like defense, if you like offense and high power, you didn’t like this game.”

Chicago — LeBron James came up big down the stretch and scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 24 and the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 85-75 Wednesday night to tie the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

The Heat can breathe a little easier after escaping with a win and stealing home-court advantage. Coming off a lopsided loss in Game 1, they recovered down the stretch after blowing an 11-point lead to pull even in the series.

James shook off a brutal opener and scored nine points over the final 4:27, starting with a 3-pointer that put Miami ahead for good, 76-73. He also had 10 rebounds, and Miami outrebounded the Bulls 45-41 after getting pounded 45-33 on the glass in the opener.

Despite battling a head cold, it was big turnaround after he managed just 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting while being harassed by Luol Deng in Game 1.

“I put it all on the line tonight and did whatever it took for our team to win,” James said.

Game 3 is Sunday in Miami.

Wade also looked more like a superstar after scoring 18 on Sunday. Udonis Haslem provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, and the Heat beat the Bulls for the first time this season.

Derrick Rose led Chicago with 21 points but scored just two in the fourth quarter. Deng, the only other Bulls player in double figures, added 13 but had just four after the opening period.

Joakim Noah had nine points but only eight rebounds. Taj Gibson provided a spark in the fourth quarter, scoring all of his eight points. Carlos Boozer, however, was a non-factor with seven points and eight rebounds.

The Bulls missed countless layups and got outshot 47.1 percent to 34.1 percent. They were just 3 of 20 on 3-pointers and 16 of 26 at the foul line while getting beat on the glass.

They had no answer for James down the stretch, either, and came up short when it looked like they might find a way to pull this one out.

The Bulls are 4-0 this season against the Heat.


The Heat are down 1-0 in the Eastern Conference finals following their 21-point loss in Game 1. And, although it’s a small sample of just two games, the Heat were 0-2 during the regular season in games immediately after a 20-point loss.

• On Jan. 13, the Heat lost by 28 points at Denver then lost their next game, which was at Chicago, 99-96. (LeBron James missed both games with a sprained ankle.)

• On March 4, the Heat lost by 30 at San Antonio, and followed that up with a 1-point loss at the Bulls.

A bigger sample is this, courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau: Each of the previous 23 teams that lost Game 1 of a best-of-seven playoff series by more than 20 points ended up losing that series.

One more note working against the Heat is that LeBron James has lost four of the previous five postseason series in which his team (the Cleveland Cavaliers) lost Game 1. Dwyane Wade and the Heat have lost five of the seven playoff series when losing Game 1, although one of those series wins came when they were down 2-0 in the 2006 NBA Finals and came back to beat the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

Game 2: What To Watch

The Bulls’ ability to rebound at the offensive end (19 offensive boards in Game 1) not only resulted in 31 second-chance points, but put the brakes on Miami’s transition game. In the first two rounds, 52 percent of the Heat’s transition opportunities came from defensive rebounds, and they scored 54 of their 114 transition points on those plays. In Game 1 against Chicago, Miami was able to generate transition opportunities on only two of their seven defensive boards, scoring just two points.

Miami will have to shoot better from the perimeter tonight. The Heat made just seven field goals outside 15 feet in Game 1, matching the fewest they made from that distance in a game, regular season and playoff games combined. Conversely, the Bulls shot 44.2 percent from the perimeter in Game 1 (19-43).

James was not able to attack the basket in Game 1, thanks in part to Luol Deng’s defense. James averaged 14 points per game in two regular-season games when he was guarded by Deng, but was held to just six points against Deng in Game 1.

Although Deng was able to stop James for one game, no one this postseason has been able to shut down Derrick Rose. He’s averaging nine points per game inside of five feet — only Dwight Howard has averaged more this postseason (12.7).