After dropping Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Chicago Bulls, LeBron James and the Miami Heat have battened down the hatches and ran through Chicago for three straight wins. Game 5 tips off tonight at 7:00, and could spell elimination for the strong-hearted Bulls. The game will be televised on TNT and can be live streamed for free here. Bulls' fans can listen to the game at ESPN 1000 while Heat fans will be hearing the action on 560 WQAM.
After the injury-ravaged Bulls stole Game 1 on Miami's home floor, the Heat defense has come to its senses and limited Chicago to 79 points per game in three consecutive Bulls losses. Not one member of the Bulls with more than 50 minutes of floor time is shooting above 44 percent, and Chicago's top scorer in the series is Jimmy Butler, at 14.8 points a night.
Nate Robinson, who has attempted to take over as Chicago's lead dog offensively without Derrick Rose and Luol Deng, is refusing to give up hope. "Nobody said this was going to be easy," Robinson said. "We're professionals for a reason. We'll go back to the drawing board and figure it out."
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has advised his players to look simply at the game at hand instead of backward, lest they see some bleak digits. "I don't what them looking backwards. I don't want them looking ahead. Just lock into the game that's in front of us and concentrate on winning that game. We know we're capable."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said that despite their maladies, Chicago's no easy out. He also said that closeout games are among the most difficult type of games to win, but his team has the mindset and mentality required to take care of business.
"You have to have a high-character team," Spoelstra said. "You have to have a team that's built strong habits ... not to take games for granted. Our guys have built up habits. They also have built up perspective that boy, these close-out games have been the toughest ones."
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