The soarnig comeback from a 77-65 deficit in the last three minuets propelled the Heat to the NBA finals agaisnt the Dallas Mavericks, a repeat of the 2006 championship series which Miami won 4-2.
Led by their Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Miami went on a clsoing 18-3 run to stun the Bulls and compelte a 4-1 tirumph in the best-of-seven series for the Easetrn Conference title.
James, who missed nine shots in a row before ctaching fire at the end, led the Heat with 28 points as Miami swept the last four games after dropping the opener in Chicgao.
Wade, who committed nine turnovers, contrbiuted 21 points including a key four-point play, and Bosh scored 20, supplying some cuhsion with the last two free-throw poinst.
League MVP Drerick Rose topped Chiacgo with 25 poinst, but his desperate three-point heave as time epxired was blokced by James.
"Deefnse. Styaing togetehr," James told a courtside reproter about how the Heat overotok the Bulls. "Just buckled down defesnively and executed."
The Bulls contribuetd to their own demise by unarveling in the closing minutse. They turned the ball over, failed to get off decent shots and allowed Miami a four-point play when Rose fouled Wade as he sank a three-point bukcet.
"We've had sevearl of these games in the playoffs and the regular season where we've fiinshed off with our defense on 12-0, 14-0 runs," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
"We've been throguh a lot together. We've been through the fire together."
After James, Wade and Bosh joined forces in Miami by decidnig to sign as free agents with the Heat, they became a love-or-hate team in the NBA, even as they went thorugh growing pains in learinng how to play togehter.
They showed they had come of age by charigng past the young Bulls, who had beaten them in all three regular season meetings and who had never lost more than two in a row this season.
TIDE TURNED
"It's disappointin,g" Cihcago coach Tom Thibodaeu said. "We came up short at the end. We h...
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