For all the Miami Heat and LeBron James haters, these playoffs must be pretty hard to watch so far.
As I said in the preview of this Eastern Conference Final, this series was bound to be an extremely frustrating one for the NBA’s MVP Derrick Rose and the reasons were obvious. One star can’t beat three stars in the NBA. At least, I’ve never seen it happen. Wait, check that, I did see it happen in 2007, when LeBron James single-handedly led his Cavs to four straight victories against the Detroit Pistons en route to the NBA Finals.
As good as Derrick Rose is, he’s just one man. People can hate on LeBron James all they want, but the fact is, he’s a former back-to-back MVP himself. As for Chris Bosh, you can call him soft, and at times he is, he’s not a typical post player that bangs on the block like people think he should be, and if that makes him soft, then he’s a soft big man that can drop a soft 30 points on anyone on any given night. I won’t even talk about Wade because his NBA championship ring speaks for itself.
As for Rose, it was only a couple of years ago that he was winning Rookie of The Year. If the Thunder proved anything, it’s that experience matters big-time in the playoffs. You also need some guys that can score. The Bulls lack both. As a result, the Miami Heat have beaten the Bulls three straight times to take a 3-1 strangle hold on the series.
Last night’s overtime loss was a perfect example of how one man can’t do it all. Derrick Rose played the entire second half and overtime and to be frank, it showed. With LeBron James hounding him for most of the fourth quarter and OT, Rose looked tired and was ineffective. The Heat eventually broke the game open outscoring the tired Bulls 16-8. Led by LeBron, who has become one of the best closers in the game, the Heat went on to take a 101-93 victory.
It’s the first time all season long that the Bulls lost three consecutive games.
If you’re a Heat fan, you’re happy at what you’re seeing. This team is coming together. Mike Miller, once a prolific scorer in the NBA, suddenly woke up from his slumber and became the offensive weapon that Pat Riley hoped he would be. With Haslem back in the lineup and LeBron being clutch down the stretch of games, go ahead and pencil this team into the 2011 NBA Finals.
You can go ahead an pencil in the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals too.
