Post by kevinfelixlee on May 26, 2011 1:45:54 GMT -5
With a game, a series and perhaps his team¡¯s playoff existence on the line, Derrick Rose dribbled the ball, eyed his defender, and sized up the space between himself and the rim, some 26 feet away.
The Chicago Bulls needed one basket to tie the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece late Tuesday night. They placed their fate in the hands of Rose, the N.B.A.¡¯s most valuable player runescape power leveling, which seemed like a decent enough plan.
But the man hovering over Rose was LeBron James ¡ª a 6-foot-8-inch monolith of muscle and speed ¡ª and behind him a disciplined swarm of quick-witted teammates. His path cluttered, Rose burst toward the right elbow, stopped and launched a 17-foot jump runescape gold shot that bounced harmlessly off the rim as the fourth quarter expired.
The game slipped into overtime, then slipped away as James and Dwyane Wade powered the Miami Heat to a 101-93 victory. Miami holds a 3-1 lead, a deficit no team has overcome in a conference finals since 1981 when the Boton Celtics rallied past the Philadelphia 76ers.
¡°That¡¯s his shot,¡± Chicago Coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose on Wednesday, standing firmly behind the player who earned him coach rs gold of the year honors. He added: ¡°The thing I love about him is he¡¯s got the courage to take, and he¡¯s got the ability to make. And so I trust him. There¡¯s no one out there I would rather have than him.¡±
For six months, through fall, winter and spring, across 62 regular-season victories and two playoff rounds, through injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, Rose has carried and sustained the Bulls, returning them to the top of the conference for the first time in a generation. Chicago lacked star power, but it had Rose, enviable depth and chemistry, plus Thibodeau¡¯s defensive schemes, and that was enough.
The formula is wilting against a Heat lineup that has superior talent and plays ferocious defense.
Rose is shooting 36.3 percent in the series, well below his 44.5 percent success rate in the regular season. He is averaging 23 points runescape money against the Heat, but only 21 in the last three games ¡ª all of them losses ¡ª a steep decline from the 28.8 points he averaged in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
When the Bulls are in transition and Rose is flying up the court, the points still come easily, on mind-blowing dunks and power layups, generated by his incredible blend of speed and strength. Amid the defeats, Rose has produced a fantastic highlight reel.
This series is being dictated primarily in the halfcourt, however, and here the Bulls have sputtered. Although Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer can produce the occasional 20-point game, the Bulls are wholly reliant on Rose to create scoring chances. Miami has denied him at every turn, reducing Chicago¡¯s offense to a muddled mess.
Rose was 5 for 10 at the rim in Game 4, but 3 for 17 on shots beyond 3 feet, according to HoopData. For the series, Rose is 12 for 22 at the rim (.545), and 21 for 69 (.304) from everywhere else.
The Bulls are averaging 89 points in the series, and only 84.3 points in the three losses ¡ª down from 92.7 points a game in the second round, 97.6 points runescape items a game in the first round and 98.6 a game in the regular season.
If Rose cannot get to the basket, and his jumper is not falling, the Bulls have a tough time generating points. Deng is streaky and Boozer is so unreliable that he is often subbed out for the defensive-minded Taj Gibson in fourth quarters. After Rose, Deng and Boozer, no other Bulls are averaging double digits in the playoffs.
Kyle Korver, who was signed last summer to become the Bulls¡¯ defense-stretching shooter, is 3 for 11 on 3-point tries in this series. The rest of the rotation is filled with defenders and bit players.
Even the Bulls¡¯ greatest advantage, their enviable frontcourt depth, has been offset by the return of Miami¡¯s Udonis Haslem, who is once again moving bodies in the paint and hitting midrange jumpers after spending six months on the shelf.
Making matters worse, the Bulls announced Wednesday that Omer Asik, their talented backup center, would miss the rest of the playoffs because of a fractured left fibula.
Miami, meanwhile, is only getting stronger. Haslem provided the boost in Game 2, in his first meaningful appearance of the season. Mike Miller, who also had been limited all season by injuries, was the difference in Game 4 with his 3-point shooting.
This is the team that Heat officials thought they would have when they united James, Wade and Chris Bosh last summer and enticed Haslem and Miller to sign below-market contracts. Whole at last, Miami is starting to look unbeatable.
When Wade falters, James is there. Bosh, the third option, is averaging 24 points in the series ¡ª better than every player in the Bulls¡¯ rotation.
The Bulls have been competitive despite everything. They had a 1-point lead with 1:14 left in regulation on Tuesday. They trailed by just 4 points with six and a half minutes to go in Game 3. They had a tie with four and a half minutes left in Game 2. Yet they lack the firepower to close out games against an elite defensive team.
Rose now stands where James once did in Cleveland ¡ª on an island, a solo star surrounded by dedicated and willing but insufficiently talented teammates. When he fails, they all do.
James resolved the problem himself last summer and now stands one win from the finals. It helps to have high-quality help, which is the overriding lesson of this N.B.A. season.