Rose, Lethargic Bulls Surrender to Miami Heat in Game 2

COMMENTARY | At the end of the first quarter in last night's Game Two between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, Luol Deng sunk a half-court shot at the buzzer, putting the Bulls up over the Heat by eight points. It looked like the Bulls were headed for another emotional win, but it was not to be. Why couldn't Chicago win its second straight game against Miami in their best-of seven-series?

Sam Smith has posted an article at the Chicago Bulls website titled "Miami evens series with 85-75 win." A better title would have been "Miami evens series with win over Derrick Rose."

Chicago fans have been here before. There has been Walter Payton; Ernie Banks; Michael Jordan; and yes, even Joakim Noah representing a few of the saviors of Chicago sports. Chicago fans certainly learned with Jordan and Payton that no superstar was good enough to win championships without a supporting cast.

Ultimately, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc helped Jordan bring home trophies for the Bulls while Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, Matt Suhey and Willie Gault were necessary cogs in the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl win. Simply put, one guy cannot win trophies.

The reason the Bulls couldn't take down Miami for the second straight time was that Derrick Rose couldn't score and no one else could pick Rose up.

Two players the Bulls have looked to for energy boosters have been Kyle Korver hitting three-pointers and the overall play of Taj Gibson. They didn't show up last night.

If Rose has four great games and his teammates are "on," then the Bulls will beat the Heat. If Rose cannot perform the feat, I will have to live with the thought of LeBron James' smirk in my mind until next year -- it's that simple.

Rose was miserable from the start. In fact, despite leading at the end of the first quarter, Chicago seemed lethargic. It is hard to come back with an edge when you blow a team out like the Bulls did to the Heat in Game One.

This game literally came down to the last couple of minutes. It was tied and it was obvious that whoever got a couple of baskets at the right time would win; that is exactly what happened.

It may be that we're focusing on the wrong conference. This year it was thought by most pundits that the Eastern Conference Miami Heat would win the championship over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Has anyone been watching the Dallas Mavericks?

References:

You Tube Website, "Luol Deng Half Court Shot vs. Miami Heat"

Chicago Bulls' Website, Sam Smith, "Miami evens series with 85-75 win"