The last time the Bulls or the Heat reached the Eastern Conference Finals each went on to win the championship. The Heat in 2006 led by Dwayne Wade, and the Bulls? They have to go back to the reign of His Airness Michael Jordan.
Both teams at the beginning of the season were Eastern Conference favorites. At the beginning of the postseason they were still favorites and now they will decide who will represent their conference in the finals.
The Bulls came into the playoffs looking like they could take out the Heat with their superior team play on defense and with Rose orchestrating their offensive attack. The past two rounds have shown the opposite however. The Bulls have been struggling defensively against the Atlanta Hawks. They were not bad but they did not play up to the level they had all season. While the Heat put away the Boston Celtics last round like it was a first round match up and not a brutal series against the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Despite the Bulls lack of dominance thus far in the playoffs they still have the NBA's MVP in Derrick Rose who has been leading the Bulls charge. Rose's teammates have not been playing well enough to be able to have a chance against the Heat. Rose is good, but the Heat have these tow guys named Wade and James, and they are pretty good as well.
I thought that the Bulls having a stronger supporting cast, deeper bench and better team defense would be able to advance past the Heat at the beginning of the playoffs. While I still believe they can, I do not think they can if they continue to play at the level they have the past two rounds.
Regardless of who comes out on top, this is going to be a series that will go at least six games. If it doesn't it is because Wade and James will go off and the Bulls will not respond accordingly.
Sunday will tell a lot about if the Bulls have come to play or not this series. And if not, at least they have until Wednesday since Oprah will be taking over the United Center Monday and Tuesday.
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