The "Second Round Champion" Miami Heat Fall Hard To Best Team in NBA in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals

CHICAGO, IL. WARNING! The geniuses at ESPN who were responsible for Lebron's infamous, hour-long "Decision" television special escaped from their cages over the weekend. The "Heat" rabies that infected them has been spreading like wildfire in the ESPN newsroom. as analyst after analyst is calling the Eastern Conference Finals in favor of the Miami Heat.

Apparently, the Miami Heat had somehow improved as a team when they defeated a tired, geriatric Boston Celtics team that everyone knew had sacrificed their main advantage over the Heat by trading Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline.

Or maybe they figured that the ease of their 4 - 1 series victory over the same Celtics means that the Heat are now clicking on all cylinders, neglecting the obvious fact that Rajon Rondo, whom Doc Rivers has called the Celtics most important player, was injured and playing with one arm, as a result of a dirty play by Miami Heat guard, Dwayne Wade.

Anyway, ESPN, like the geniuses they are, called this Miami Heat team the favorite to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

In Chicago, they have a vastly different description for the Miami Heat and the Miami Superfriends, and they did not hesitate to share it with the world that was watching.

"Overrated!"

Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls defense allowed only 11 points for Wade and Lebron combined in the second half; Wade scored just 18 points and Lebron scored only 15 for the game.

NBA basketball fans have been unimpressed with the underachieving Miami Heat all year, as has most everyone outside of the Miami-Dade County area (save for a couple of self-proclaimed Lebron dick-riders), but as of the final day of the season, when the Chicago Bulls secured the best record in NBA this season, NBA fans were thoroughly impressed at how the Bulls have come together so quickly.

And the fact that the Chicago Bulls are the product of hard work, team effort, great coaching, and lead by a talented, yet humble homegrown superstar, just makes them a team everyone can root for. They are the anti-Heat.

Despite being the top seeded team in the playoffs, with homecourt advantage throughout, the Bulls have not acted entitled in the way that the Heat and Lebron have from the day they threw their party in South Beach talking about winning "not 5, not 6, not 7,...."

And after a Game 1 beatdown of the Heat, the Chicago Bulls certainly proved that Miami should be worried about them. Miami should be downright scared of the Chicago Bulls.

Anyone fantasizing about a 2006 NBA Finals rematch between Miami and Dallas has been out in the South Beach sun too long and is demonstrating symptoms of "heat" stroke.

Miami, with their "championship" celebration after eliminating the Celtics, are overlooking the real threat to their title aspirations. And not just this year. The Bulls are a much younger team, running the schemes that befuddled Wade and Lebron for the last two years and made the Boston Celtics the NBA Champions in 2008.

The Miami Heat have been dumbfounded for answers when it comes to getting a win against the Chicago Bulls.

Including Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Chicago Bulls have beat the Miami Heat four straight times, and in the most important of those games, the Bulls won by a margin of 21 points.

And after the game, the Miami Heat admitted that they were demoralized by the 19 offensive rebounds that the Bulls' frontline pulled in to help propel the Bulls to their Game 1 victory.

In the four games between Miami and Chicago, the Bulls have grabbed 44 more rebounds for an 11 rebound/game edge. That kind of dominance is not accidental; the Chicago Bulls were built to beat the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, specifically.

The Boston Celtics had interior toughness and rebounding, but they traded Kendrick Perkins away. Now, Oklahoma City, Perkins' new team, is playing in the conference finals while Boston sits at home.

Taj Gibson had the biggest plays in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals for the Bulls, including this monsterous dunk on Dwayne Wade.

The Chicago Bulls had the "opportunity" to trade Omer Asik or Taj Gibson for a more offensive shooting guard, but they held on to their advantage. And after Game 1, no doubt Taj Gibson's trade value has gone up.

But with the Bulls retaining their great young frontcourt depth, Chicago held on to the advantage that will get them passed the Miami Heat and into the NBA Finals. And "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4,..." because combined with their 22-year old NBA Most Valuable Player, the Chicago Bulls will potentially be dominant for as long as the Miami Heat window is open.

Don't believe me? Just watch.

HIGHLIGHTS of THE CHICAGO BULLS vs. MIAMI HEAT, 2011 NBA PLAYOFFS, EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, GAME 1:


With the Chicago Bulls up 1 - 0 in the best-of-seven series, what do you think will be the series outcome?