The Chicago Bulls defeated the Miami Heat on Thursday night in a back-and-forth defensive struggle. Miami was looking for a statement win in the final month of the season, and playing largely without Derrick Rose, the Bulls hit the shots when they needed to prevent that and clinch it in overtime. There were three ties and six lead changes in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls shot the lights out in the extra session to win it 96-86. Chicago hit their first five of six from the floor to start OT, including five straight points by Taj Gibson. Miami did not make a field goal in overtime.
The Bulls bench had nearly as much production as the starters, scoring forty-plus points and grabbing twenty-plus rebounds. Along with Gibson, back-up point guard CJ Watson was key off the bench down the stretch, with Rose nursing his slew of injuries. Unfortunately for Miami, Watson came up with a circus three-pointer as the shot clock expired that tied it up with less than three seconds to play. Video of the shot below:
While the bench came through for Chicago, it was the opposite for Miami as the "Big 3" did all the work. No other player scored more than four points for Erik Spoelstra. LeBron James led all scorers with 30 points, while Chris Bosh added 20 and Dwyane Wade scored 21. But they simply did not have enough, especially against a Chicago team who shot 50 percent from behind the arc.
Miami now returns home for some nice pick-up medicine, facing the lowly Bobcats on Friday night.
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