The Bulls started off sluggish, and it didn’t get much better as they dropped Game 4 at home to the Miami Heat.
Chicago started 1-12 from the field. Chris Bosh started his game on 4-5 shooting, while Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli started their games on 1-8 shooting. Everything Chicago did, Miami could do better.
The Heat possessed great ball control and ball movement. On defense, Miami did a great job of keeping the Bulls offense passive and timid. Chicago could only string 15 points together.
Nate Robinson ended his quarter with 0 points and the Bulls shot 0-8 form three-point range. Miami’s lead was 21-15 heading into the second.
Miami opened the second quarter with a pair of three’s. It was beginning to look like the awful blowout we all witnessed, game 2. After appearing in only 10 minutes this postseason, Rip Hamilton had his number called in the second quarter.
Hamilton hit the first three he took, putting the bench players on their feet. Star guard Dwayne Wade collided knees with Jimmy Butler and came up hopping. The Heat had 5 turnovers in the second quarter alone but the Bulls couldn’t capitalize off the turnovers.
With such an early tip-off, the United Center wasn’t at its full capacity in volume until late in the second quarter. Miami kept distance from the Bulls, as Chicago was unable to stab at the Heat lead. Miami took a 44-33 lead into the half.
Injuries had finally caught up to the Bulls. With Nate Robinson unable to get out of his funk, Chicago had zero offense. Tom Thibodeau’s offense was a no show for game 4.
Everything was going Miami’s way, calls, loose balls, and jump shots. Nate Robinson wasn’t capable of carrying the offensive load for his team. 0 points, 0 points for the man who put the Bulls of this magical playoff run. Norris Cole hit a dagger three ball at the buzzer.
Chicago only scored 9 points in the third quarter. Miami’s lead grew to 19 as the Heat took a 61-42 lead into the final 12 minutes of the game.
Miami had their foots on the throats of Chicago as they looked to finish off the game 4 blowout. One play that symbolized the way this series has gone, Marquis Teague tried to break up an alley-oop pass that was thrown his way. Teague did a great job of breaking the pass up, but the ball ended up in the Bulls basket.
Chicago really couldn’t get anything to go their way. Lebron James just had his way with the depleted Bulls team. The Bulls offense looked like it didn’t belong in the playoffs. Rip Hamilton provided a nice surprise to all the Bulls fans. Hamilton was the only real scoring option for Chicago.
Hamilton finished his night with 11 points. Miami closed out the game with their bench players, as Miami won game 4, 88-65.
Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Miami.
Key stats of the night:
Jimmy Butler was 2 minutes shy of another 48 minute game, he ended the night with 46 MINUTES.
Nate Robinson laid a big egg on 0-12 shooting, he ended his outing with 0 POINTS.
Lebron James showed us why he’s the MVP, he put out 27 POINTS, 8 ASSISTS AND 7 REBOUNDS.
The Chicago Bulls ended the night with 65 POINTS and had a 25.7% FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE.
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