Defending champions take 2-1 edge over Chicago - the hard way

So much for South Beach style. The Miami Heat showed again they can get down and dirty.

LeBron James came on strong down the stretch to finish with 25 points, Chris Bosh added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and the Heat followed up the most lopsided playoff win in franchise history with a 104-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Shaking off a shove to the court that earned Nazr Mohammed an ejection and James an accusation of flopping from Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the four-time MVP came through down the stretch, scoring 12 in the fourth quarter.

Norris Cole matched his postseason career high with his second straight 18-point performance, and the Heat pulled out a tight win after blasting the Bulls 115-78 on Wednesday.

This time, Chicago refused to go quietly. Never mind that the Bulls were coming off the worst playoff loss in franchise history. Put aside the fact that the ailing Luol Deng and injured Kirk Hinrich (calf) remained sidelined, not to mention Derrick Rose, or that Mohammed got ejected in the second quarter for shoving James to the floor.

In the end, it was the Heat grinding out the victory.

"You can't win a championship being pretty and shiny," Bosh said. "You're going to have to get dirty. You're going to have to play physical. You're going to have to dive on the floor. You're going to have to do things that are extremely tough.

"I think people forget just two years ago we were a halfcourt, grind-it-out kind of team that was trying to beat you down. Just because we've moved to more of a free-flowing offense, we're more spread a little bit, that doesn't mean that we are just a run-and-gun team."

The Heat prevailed on a night when James was off target most of the way, hitting just 6 of 17 shots and even getting blocked on a layup by Nate Robinson in the third quarter.

But he and Cole hit two big 3-pointers. Bosh perked up after two quiet games, finishing one rebound shy of the club playoff record, and Miami's bench outscored Chicago's 36-8.

"For (Bosh) to have 19 rebounds and for Norris to come off the bench and defend the way he did against Nate and also contribute offensively - a big-time drive in the fourth and a big-time 3 as well," James said. "Those two guys were the reason we won the game."

Carlos Boozer led Chicago with 21 points. Robinson and Jimmy Butler each scored 17. Joakim Noah added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli had 16 points, but the Bulls couldn't pull this one out.

They were within 85-83 when Cole scored on a finger roll with about four minutes left and Miami started to take control from there. James answered a 3-pointer by Belinelli with one of his own, and after Boozer hit a jumper for Chicago, Cole buried another 3 for the Heat to make it 96-88 with 1:48 remaining.

Finally, the Heat could breathe a little easier. Nothing about this one was easy, though.

Playing in Chicago for the first time since their 27-game win streak ended there, the Heat got all they could handle.

(China Daily 05/12/2013 page7)