The Miami Heat have earned the right to call themselves the best team in the Eastern Conference, defeating the Chicago Bulls 83-80 in Game 5. With the victory, the Heat closed out the conference finals against the Bulls 4-1, and will face the Dallas Mavericks next in the NBA Finals.
For a moment, it seemed like the Bulls were about to force Game 6 in Miami. An unnecessary flagrant foul on LeBron James by Carlos Boozer reignited the flames burning inside the superstar. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James' went on a serious scoring streak, cutting down the Chicago lead.
In the final minute of the game, LeBron's clutch performance was enough to make Michael Jordan jealous. LeBron James put the Heat on his back, stroking down everything from three's to mid-range jumpers. Looking back at LeBron's many clutch performances in the 2011 NBA Playoffs, he has definitely proven himself as one of the best clutch performers in the game.
LeBron James led both teams in scoring with 28 points to go with his 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Dwyane Wade struggled earlier in the game, but the Chicago native came up big for the Heat in the final quarter. Wade finished the game with 21 points and 6 rebounds for the Heat. Chris Bosh continued his solid play in Game 5, converting on 7 of his 15 field goal attempts. Bosh finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.
Miami's defense in Game 5 was relentless, holding the Bulls to 35.8 percent shooting from the field. The Heat did a particularly decent job on Derrick Rose, who was horrific from the field shooting 31 percent. In the final minute of Game 5, Rose missed a potential game tying free throw.
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra reflected on the team's journey while speaking to reporters after the game:
"We had to go through a lot of adversity, that struggle that we went through in March, where we lost five straight -- all of them close games, where we didn't execute down the stretch and weren't able to close games out -- that helped us. As painful as that was, we had to go through that fire together to be able to gain the confidence where we could be successful now in the postseason."
On May 31, the Heat will face the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Finals.
David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 15 years.
Sources:
Associated Press,"Heat stage late comeback to advance to NBA Finals, eliminate Bulls"
Player and game information from espn.com
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