Despite the result, there is plenty of reason to be encouraged by the game yesterday. The lion's share of the damage was done by LeBron, and while TBN did a halfway decent job in the 2nd half of making LeBron take tough shots...he's LeBron. He can make tough shots. Luol is one of the few players in the league capable of either getting the ball out of his hands, or forcing those shots to be even farther out. Bulls-Heat without Deng is just as irrelevant to a future playoff series as Bulls-Heat without LeBron was last year.
That being said, this was a very winnable game. Here's where it went wrong:
Boozer- 40%
In the first half I tweeted that Boozer was making a push to break the 50% blame game barrier. He came down under it with some surprisingly solid play down the stretch (even on defense!!), but points in the first half count just as much as points in the 2nd. And the Heat had waaaay too many easy buckets in the first half caused by Boozer just too slow on the rotation, or not even interested in rotating at all. Boozer, I'm not worried about Udonis Haslem having the ball in the short corner, or Joel Anthony having the ball anywhere, so if LeBron is driving to the hole (*ahem*) IT'S OK TO LEAVE YOUR MAN AND CONTEST THE SHOT! Instead there are a bunch of first-half highlights where LeBron is dunking on an uncontested rim while Boozer just kind of looks up at him with his elbow still on Haslem, boxing him out as if there's going to be a rebound.
Also, a bonus couple of percentage points for not making the pass to a wide open Rip cutting to the basket on the last possession. If Joakim hadn't fouled out, he makes that pass.
Rip- 20%
Rip played pretty nice D on D-Wade, being a big reason he shot 4-16 for the field. Unfortunately, Rip negated that by shooting...4-16 from the field. Rip, you were signed specifically to be another offensive weapon against the Heat. We're not going to have a chance in a theoretical Eastern Conference Finals without more efficient offense from Rip.
ABC-15%
I realize ABC isn't actually responsible for the Bulls loss per se, but they're definitely responsible for more than 15% of my frustration with that game. I still don't know if Wade stepped out on his save of the lose ball with 16 seconds left, because ABC never showed us a definitive replay. And Breen and Van Gundy did a terrible job explaining what was happening (was the call even reviewable? If so, why wasn't it reviewed? If not, why? Instead, JVG was just kind of like "I don't know what's going on. Whatever")
Also, ABC flashed the stat before Rose's missed free throws that he was 29-29 from the line in the 4th quarter. Thanks a lot, ABC.
John Lucas III- 10%
Assigning percentage to JL3 in this game is kind of like being mad at a kitten for losing a fight to a crocodile. But JL3 played 3 minutes and was a game worst -8, of which -8 of which was entirely his fault. Not having CJ was almost as big of a problem as not having Deng, considering that maybe Derrick's missed free throws had something to do with the fact that he played the last 38 minutes consecutively out of necessity. He also had to be extra careful to not pick up a third foul in the second quarter, leading to some easy points for the Heat where Derrick had to be less aggressive than normal.
TBN- 10%
Ronnie somehow went 4-8 from the field, but (and this is the problem with writing the blame game a day late), I feel like those 4 misses were costly.
Derrick- 5%
Not for the free throws, or even missing the last shot, but more for the decision to not hit Rip for the wide open three in the corner. I said the other day in the Pacers post that his decisions would lead to wins later. It might have been yesterday had he made that pass.
Absolved-
Taj- Attacking the basket, playing strong defense, and doing everything except securing that rebound with 16 seconds left. Maybe he deserves a little blame for that, but he was a deserved team-high +7, so he gets absolved.
Joakim- A few good games in a row from Jo. Maybe he has finally played his way back into shape after too much canoodling on the beach in the offseason.
Fredo- Wennington was drooling over Korver's defense in this game tonight on the pregame for the Wizards, calling it "outstanding." I don't know if I'd go that far, but he wasn't a defensive liability and was 3-6 from downtown, which is about all we can ask of him.
3 more games with the Heat in the regular season. Hopefully the Bulls are at full strength next time. Or, dare I say, have Dwight Howard to help on the defensive side?
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