Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat (Season Opener)

Like many NBA fans this match up could not come any sooner and finding out it would be the opener gave us a lot to look forward to.
All eyes are on the recovered Chicago Bulls starter Derrick Rose who has a the whole city on his shoulders. Coming back from his ACL injury which saw him benched all of last season he has a lot to prove to both critics and fans. Could Rose rise in the Lebron James era where most championships go to the richest team in the league. New arrivals for them would be Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers) and Roger Mason (New Orleans Hornets) choosing to amnesty Mike Miller a player who did give them his all. This only proves my theory that the Heat will simply buy the best on the market almost creating a monopoly.
I am interested to see how newcomer Jimmy Butler will fair this season playing for a Bulls team which were forced to slow their game down in the past few season, especially with Rose being out for a year. Mike Dunlevy also proved to be an interesting choice, only hoping he will be able to play some physical basketball and be the needed defensive boost that Chicago have been looking for. I don’t know too much about the guy except that he played for the Golden State warriors back in the day and was taken this year from the Bucks. Letting Belinelli and Robinson leave will cost them this season because experience is something you cannot come by and in all honesty player’s like Nate Robinson are hard to find. Anyone watching the Bulls last season will admit that Nate kept them in the playoffs last year with his last minute buckets and his sheer tenacity for victory motivated his teammates in a way I did not see in the Bulls since the arrival of Rose. This writer is doubtful of the decisions of the front desk not to make some trades and require more back up in the paint but who am I to judge Tim Thibodeu.
Good news concerning Derrick Rose is that his vertical has increased by an estimated five inches which should not only aid in his aggressive style of play but also will aid in defensive rebounding. The first quarter saw the Bulls starting the game fast with the Heat having a few lost balls. Miami would get their head back in the game, must have been the rocks in those championship rings that had them distracted but a 3 from Allen would close the gap to 15-13 in the last two minutes and repeating the play to bring them in the lead of 17-15 with Boozer missing an easy layup and Dunlevy taking the botched perimeter shot.
In the second quarter Kirk keeps them close after taking 15 points with the benching of Rose, rebounding they were still fighting it but their range shots were not on target. Shane Battier comes in with a powerful three and Andersen does his job on D with a block and snatching up important rebounds taking their lead to 16 points by the 5th minute of the second quarter. The fast break game of Miami prove to be utter devastation with Bosh draining a 3 tipping the scale to a 21 point game but the Bulls continued forcing the perimeter shots. Allen continues to snipe 3 pointers with the Heat playing a fast passing game and Lebron playing hard offensively. Boozer the two time all-star scores 19 in the first half and seemed to be the only player who came to play in the first half. Hinrich not showing much except his goggles and black sleeve. Bron and the Flash close the first half with a joint 35 points which was to be expected that they would try to get the ball around.
In the second half the Bulls trail by 21 points which against the Heat is a difference next to impossible to comeback from from the team choose to stay motivated. Butler was given less than 10 minutes in the first half causing me to question the entire strategy of the Bulls staff for the game. Bad calls on Noah and a botched dunk would only see the the tempo of the Bulls slow down. Butler takes the ball from Miami with and goes all the way for the lay up to reduce the difference to 17 points. Clawing their way back and Rose manages a turnover in the final minutes of the third quarter resulting in a two free throws for the Heat making it an even steeper climb for the demoralized Chicago Bulls. The lighting fast Norris Cole manage to snatch a rebound and make a few impressive baskets. Miami playing strong through out the third quarter. Chris Andersen receives a clean no-look pass from LBJ resulting a big man dunk while LBJ is blocked by Deng while forcing a lay up against three defenders. Dunlevy finally nails his first 3 in the second minute of the fourth and Jimmy Butler would follow suit with his own 3. In a surprise turn of events Wade would be fouled in the paint and miss both free throws with Dunlevy going going coast to coast for the easy 2. Hinrich nails a three before he is suspiciously fouled out where LBJ literally is groping him in the paint. I began seeing the Bulls I came to love again two years ago, playing fast and going in for the easy points. The damage was already done but Tim’s team would not allow themselves to be declassed by the titans from Florida bringing Miami’s lead down to 8 points. It would not last long with Shane Battier draining his fourth 3 of the game after left unguarded. James would leave no room for hope when he breaks off with the pull up jumper taking them to 102.
The final score is 107 – 95 , the home team coming away with good win and Chicago will have to go back to the drawing board because it took them too long to get back in the game. I would lie if I said I did not expect more from the Bulls in the season opener but it is evident that Chicago will need to take some more time for adjustment. All in all Boozer and Butler came off as the best players from the visitors and what to say about the Heat, big bucks buy buckets…and rings.