Bulls Extinquish Heat's Flame While Chrish Bosh has his Biggest Playoff Game

Transition basketball versus half court basketball is the difference between the Miami Heat & Chicago Bulls with Derrick Rose, C.J. Watson & Joakim Noah dishing out 15 assist between them.  Running set plays in the half court being Tom Thibodeau's main focus is what will be the deciding factor on who goes to the NBA Finals.  The style of the Bulls offense set them up for 31 second chance points to the Heat's 8, easier to get offensive rebounds when running set plays leaving the Chicago's bigs in position to get the ball back out to open shooters.  Erik Spoelstra depends on his half court defense looking to cause turnovers & get out in transition hoping fast break points ignites the Heat's flame.  The Heat's half court game is really nonexistent with Mike Bibby not being a penetrating threat & Mario Chalmers just was not ready for the big stage.  Lebron & D. Wade combined for 33 points & 9 rebounds as Chris Bosh put up 30 points & 9 rebounds by himself, his biggest game in the playoffs. Taj Gibson played leading role in the "Highlight Reel" smashing on Wade & with a massive put back dunk that blew up the arena.  Derrick Rose showed why he is the MVP by doing what he does best; exploding to the rim while stunning the crowd with his every move.  It's the "Big 3" versus all of the Chicago Bulls wtih Lebron, Wade, & Bosh doing all of the work on the offensive end with only a little help on the defensive end from Joel Anthony.  The bench for the Heat did nothing, where is Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers & James Jones' production?

In Game 2 the Heat need the same effort from Chris Bosh not necessarily scoring 30 points but coming out with the same intensity and drive.  LeBron James & Dwyane Wade really need to just hit their shots with some consistency & better shot selection.  All credit due to the Chicago bigs on defense.  They built a wall in the paint whenever Wade or LeBron tried to attack the basket.  Home court advantage played a big part tonight & will in the remainder of the series with the Bulls looking to take an overwhelming advantage by winning Game 2 in Chicago.  The Bulls had the more productive bench with C.J. Watson, Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver & yes Omer Asik combining for 28 points & 14 rebounds compared to the 15 points & 7 rebounds of the Heat bench.  We'll see if they can put up the same numbers in Game 2 & if the Heat bench even shows up.  Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, & Carlos Boozer was the "Big 3" in Game 1 scoring 63 points and Joakim Noah going hard in the paint bringing down 14 rebounds.  But the Heat throughout the playoffs have been on a roller coaster going up & down with the 76ers then the Celtics & they are starting this series down against the Bulls.  I expect Miami to wake up in Game 2 & pull out a close game making the series tied & go back to Miami then split there also.  I expect the series to be hard fought but with the Finals experience of LeBron, appearing in 1 conference final & 1 NBA Final with the Cleveland Cavs (my bad guys) & Dwyane Wade winning  a Championship with ShaQ in 2006 gives the Heat a slight advantage.  The Bulls bench will not maintain the same production throughout the playoffs & that's the games the Bulls will lose.  LeBron & Wade will find a way to score & if Chris Bosh can keep it up while keeping the Bulls off the offensive boards the Heat will win in 7.

OKC, OKC, OKC!!!  Oklahoma City showed how good HOME COOKIN' has been in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.  One of the loudest arenas in the NBA distracted the Memphis Grizzlies' players to the point of submission.  They simply gave up, going into Game 7 against the top scorer in the league & a young flashy point guard who have found their stride.  After a series which went back & forth between two young talented teams with a triple OT in Game 4 Z-Bo & Marc Gasol just looked like they didn't have anymore to give.  Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook & company closed the door on the 8 seed Cinderella team from Memphis, (the city is in my prayers.)  Durant scored 39 points and Westbrook guided his team to the basket with 14 assist, finally being an actual POINT GUARD.  James Harden was magnificent off the bench with 17 points showing he is a pure shooter & can spread the floor for his teammates to go to work. The Grizzlies was one of those youthful teams that rose to the occasion & showed that the new era is taking over by beating the Spurs but couldn't beat the equally youthful Thunder. 

Will the theme of this years playoffs continue to play out with the new stars of the league defeating their predecessor in Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd & Jason Terry?  I'm leaning towards the experience and the consistency of the Dallas Mavericks giving them an advantage in this series and winning the series in 6 games advancing to the NBA Finals.

So my picks are Miami Heat going on to play the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.  Making it a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals when the Pat Riley coached Heat defeated the Avery Johnson coached Mavs in 6 games.

Game 1 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Dallas Mavericks Tuesday at 9pm ET on ESPN
Game 2 Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls Wednesday at 8:30pm ET on TNT