Miami takes control with 3-1 lead
During my basketball playing days, I used to dominate when I played against guys of similar athletic ability. But there was always one guy who gave me fits. He was a bit taller than me and just as athletic. It was hard for me to dribble past him, to out jump him, to get my shot off. The guy got under my skin because no matter how hard I tried, he always seemed to have my number. This is the way that Derrick Rose must feel today after being shadowed by LeBron James during crunch time of pivotal Game 4.
With the game on the line, it was Rose against LeBron for two crucial possessions at the end of the game. He hesitated to beat James off the dribble, and in the end, settled for jump shots that came up way short. In the overtime, it was the same story. LeBron just shut down Rose. It was obvious to me that Rose couldn't get past LeBron, no matter how hard he tried, and DRose is the fastest player in the league. But LeBron is the NBA's best defender, and defense is what wins. If you can't score you can't win. And that has been a glaring problem down the stretch for the Bulls.
Despite ending the game with poor shooting and costly turnovers, Rose started with a bang. In the first half, he had two typical DRose like drives into the lane that ended up in impact dunk steering the Bulls to an early lead. Those plays came with Mario Chalmers defending. LeBron was impressed:
"He breaks down our defense, splits pick-and-rolls and he gets in there against probably our best shot-blocker in Joel Anthony and dunks the ball for an and-one," said James. "Those plays are spectacular. That's why he is who he is."
More importantly, Miami coach Eric Spoelstra decided that LeBron would guard Rose in the 4th quarter, causing the Chicago offense to stall. Chicago struggled to score in that final quarter, but somehow still had a chance to win the game at the end after a charging call on James. But that's when LeBron's clamped down on Rose in the final possession. Going into overtime, it was obvious that the Heat had more energy and would win this game.
For his part, James was ebullient about his defensive effort. "I love defense much more than I do [offense]," said James. "Defense is our staple."
The Bulls also committed too many turnovers (19) to win this game, especially two in the OT period that allowed Miami to creep further and further ahead. Noah threw the
ball to no one on an inbounds play, and Rose lost control of the ball while trying to drive into the lane. Miami came back on both occasions to score and go ahead by 8.
Part of the problem tonight was the number of minutes logged by the Bulls starters. Rose, Noah, Boozer, and Deng all logged heavy minutes (avg 46.54 of the 53 minutes)
while only James and Bosh logged more than 40 for the Heat (Wade played a shade over 40 minutes and had a long stretch where he sat out in the second half). The Bulls are a young team, but this victory may have taken as big a physical as an emotional toll.
"It's extremely hard where a 6-8 guy can easily defend you." said Rose. What Rose really meant is that this 6'8" guy really has my number, and I can't figure out how to
beat him. This is the NBA where size not only matters, it's always the determining factor.