KING OF CHICAGO: LeBron James ran circles around the Bulls all night, including on this pass from under the basket that tantalized Chris Andersen (11), Taj Gibson (22) and Jimmy Butler (21), to pace the Heat’s 88-65 Game 4 victory in Chicago. (Reuters)
CHICAGO — LeBron James had no interest in letting the Bulls back into this Eastern Conference semifinal.
The league MVP looked the part last night, finishing with 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to lift the Heat to a 88-65 victory over the Bulls in Game 4, giving his team a 3-1 series lead heading back to South Beach for Game 5 tomorrow night.
James, fresh off being named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team by the league’s coaches earlier in the day, was sensational right from the opening tip, doing everything he could to ensure the Bulls would not climb back into the series, racking up 15 points, four rebounds and five assists in the first half to give the Heat a 44-33 halftime lead.
“He has a great feel for what we need,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think he felt we needed a strong start and a good burst. … He reads the game as well as anybody in this league.”
The Heat’s effort was all the more impressive coming with Dwyane Wade playing at far below his usual capabilities. He reinjured his right knee — the same one that kept him out of Game 4 in a first-round series sweep of the Bucks — in the second quarter, saying he felt a shooting pain, and left the game for a few minutes before eventually checking back in.
Wade finished with six points on 3-of-10 shooting in 28:35, and is averaging just 11.3 points in the series — a full 10 points below his season average.
“Some days it’s better than others,” Wade said. “In certain games, I might do a move or do something and the shooting pain might come up, but this was the first time you all have seen it … other times I have been able to not show you all.”
As bad as Chicago was, it simply didn’t matter. The magic appears to have finally run out for the Bulls, who have somehow managed to fight their way this far despite being severely undermanned. After dispatching the Nets in the first round without Derrick Rose and, by the end of the series, without Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, as well, the Bulls seemed to run out of gas in Game 4, finishing a dismal 19-for-74 (25.7 percent) from the field, including 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) from 3-point range.
“They’re in a tough situation right now, because of injuries and illnesses and whatever’s going on, but that’s not for us to worry about,” James said. “They beat a very good Brooklyn team without their full roster, so we can’t even let that get into our heads.”
Still, the Bulls managed to stay within shouting distance, and even cut the Heat’s lead to seven early in the third on a pair of free throws by Marco Belinelli. But the Bulls finished the third just 2-for-13 from the field and committed seven turnovers as the Heat ended the quarter on a 15-3 run that left the score at 61-42 through three and sent the fans streaming to the exits.
“We can’t allow frustration of shots that you miss to take you out of your game,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You can play well and not shoot well, [but] you can’t let you take that out of rebounding and defending.
“The entire team is capable of playing better.”
Nate Robinson, in particular, was dreadful, finally coming back to Earth after living a charmed life through the first three weeks of these playoffs. Unlike against the Nets, when Robinson seemed to make every shot — especially during Chicago’s unlikely comeback from 14 points down in Game 4 of that series to win in triple-overtime — Robinson couldn’t buy a basket against the Heat despite getting plenty of open looks.
The diminutive guard finished the game 0-for-12, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, and had seven turnovers in 32 minutes.
“I just didn’t make no shots tonight,” Robinson said. “They did a good job of defending, but I had a lot of open shots that I missed, a lot of floaters that I usually make that I missed. You can’t make every shot. At the same time, you just got to know when it’s not your night and it was not my night tonight.”