Chicago Bulls Dominate Miami Heat Take 1-0 Series Lead

The Chicago Bulls moved one step closer to the NBA Finals on Sunday by soundly beating the Miami Heat 103-82. Coming in to the game analysts and fans were raving about how well the Heat had played in their last series against the Boston Celtics and thought that they were finally coming together as a team. The Bulls were looking vulnerable after a 44 win Atlanta Hawks team was able to force a six game series and exploit weaknesses that people hadn't seen before. It took only one game for the Bulls to show why they were the best team during the regular season.

The Bulls continued to ride MVP Derrick Rose as he settled down after some early hiccups and scored 28 points to lead the team. He also got help from his teammates. Luol Deng scored 21 points while playing lock down defense on LeBron James, holding him to 15 points on the night. Carlos Boozer, who had struggled in the playoffs, finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and Joakim Noah pulled down 14 rebounds.

The Miami Heat were led by Chris Bosh's 30 points but the team support wasn't there against the stingy Chicago defense. The third member of the Big Three, Dwyane Wade, only managed 18 points in the game.

The Heat managed to stay in the game until midway through the third quarter. It was 58-57 in favor of the Heat when the Bulls went on a 10-0 run and took the momentum. Two three pointers started the run as Rose and Bogans both hit three pointers. Rose then hit two free throws and Noah made a layup after a Heat timeout and the Bulls led by nine.

The Heat's James Jones ended the run with a three but the Bulls kept pounding. They pushed another run 14-3 stretching it into the fourth quarter. The Chicago fans were rowdy stretching to the end of the game. The Bulls were among the teams courting a combination of James, Wade and Bosh this summer and would like to exact a bit of revenge.

Interestingly the game was pushed forward to Sunday instead of being played on Monday to accommodate a Chicago area celebrity Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey is hosting her final show on Tuesday and needed Monday to organize the set, forcing the Bulls to play Sunday. Game 2 will be on Wednesday night.