The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida (2024)

PAGELABELTAG C2 THE PALM BEACH POST REAL NEWS STARTS HERE I MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 SPORTS BULLS Heat continued from Cl Rose gets back to normal While far from spectacular against Heat, guard appears set for a return to greatness. atii11111111Albliiia. Greg Stoda Ss lEICI AMERICA t.1-, all 4 kft-f4 '11, t-td ,.1 A 7' 4 i''' 1 wiri ro'id iL OLL-'-77-- -i- 4 f- 4-1 EP- 4:0 1 7 -t ir A 4 'I. L''' 11111 NIL. ,410 He will be re-evaluated today in advance of the Heat's visit to Brooklyn on Tuesday.

"I have some soreness in there and it didn't really let up," he said. "It progressed over a day or so, so I'll listen to the docs and see what they tell me. It's one of those things that can get worse. So if you don't take care of it, it'll be a lot worse than it has to be." The Heat were up 18- 14 at the end of the first quarter. Chicago pulled in front when backup Aaron Brooks hit three straight shots early in the second and was in control the rest of the way.

Miami went into the third quarter down 39- 32, but shot 7-for-21 and committed five turnovers. Dunleavy slipped behind Wade in transition for a layup to put the Bulls up by 11 three minutes into the quarter, and they pushed their lead to 62-42 on Dunleavy's 3-pointer over Wade with 3:19 left. After holding Chicago to 39 points on 41 percent shooting in the first half, the Heat gave up 33 in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth for their eighth blowout loss. "The third quarter, we've gotta address that," said Deng, who played 10 years with the Bulls and was facing them for the second time in his career. "In the first half, we played well and had a lot of deflections.

In the second half, they got everything they wanted." Chicago ran its lead to 26 points before the Heat pushed back in the fourth quarter. Mario Chalmers cut the deficit to 75-60 on a 3-pointer in transition with 8:48 remaining, but Rose answered with two straight jumpers and the game was never in doubt after that. struggled through a 7-of18 shooting night for 17 points. Luol Deng had 17 points and 10 rebounds. The offense got little else of significance, and the Heat (11-13) suffered their sixth loss in the last eight games.

"Offensively, you're just trying to grind it and keep it close," coach Erik Spoelstra said of his depleted team. Miami managed that for a half, but could not overcome its worst shooting night of the year. It shot 31.1 percent through three quarters, including 1-of-13 on 3-pointers, and did not crack SO points until early in the fourth. The offense finally started clicking toward the end when Chicago (15-8) had the game well in hand. Overall, the Heat shot 35 percent from the field and went 4-for-22 from 3.

They compounded those problems by committing 15 turnovers, six by Wade, that led to 22 points for Chicago. A 27-point fourth quarter helped the Heat get to 75, matching their weakest output this year. Bulls journeyman Mike Dunleavy outscored Miami's entire team 19-16 in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 22 points. Derrick Rose had 14 points and three assists. Bosh had been the only starter to play every game before sitting with lingering pain from the injury he suffered two days earlier against Utah.

With that issue and Josh McRoberts out for the third straight time with a bruised right knee, Spoelstra rolled out a starting five of Norris Cole, Wade, Deng, Udonis Haslem and Justin Hamilton. The Heat need Bosh back as quickly as possible, though there is no timetable on his return. laughed. Opponents will get around to it sooner rather than later. "We all feel like he's going to be back to the guy he was," Thibodeau has said in repetitive mantra.

The guy Rose was, of course, was a player on a path to superstardom. He was carving out a career as a league headliner along with the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant. But then came the two devastating injuries, which subsequently led to criticisms that Rose might have been unnecessarily reluctant to return to the court after the second one. Now, though, he seems increasingly engaged and more certain of himself and his movements despite still averaging a comparatively light 27 minutes per game, which is what Rose logged against Miami. He wasn't a difference-maker against the Heat, but didn't need to be.

"Rose probably now is orchestrating the offense and balancing when he's going to attack and when to play off other guys," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There are more places the ball can go. He looks more comfortable each game and he's shooting well." Miami, meanwhile, looks increasingly inept. Sure, the Heat played without Chris Bosh (calf), but Chicago was without Joakim Noah (ankle). There's little sense that Miami will improve, but there is for the Bulls as Rose finds his way back to excellence.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose scored just 14 points Sunday night but was starting his 10th consecutive game, a sign of progress in his return from injury. MIKE EHPMANN GETTY IMAGES MIAMI Derrick Rose wasn't all that good Sunday night. He didn't make his first field goal until late in the first half, and had missed five times by then. He went to the break with more personal fouls (two) and turnovers (one) than assists (zero). He finished with 14 points, and most of them were cosmetic in the fourth quarter of Chicago's easy 93-75 disposal of the malfunctioning Heat.

He was 6 of 14 from the field with a modest three assists and two rebounds. So, yeah, he was a lot less than spectacular. But the far more important statistic for Rose was that he started his 10th consecutive game for Chicago his longest such stretch since a period from late February into early March of 2012 in the road rout of the Heat in AmericanAirlines Arena. And, mostly, Rose has looked positively Bullish again. That makes Chicago dangerous.

It makes the Bulls a legitimate candidate to replace four-time reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami as NBA Finals representative is what it does. On a recovery course after two knee injuries a torn left ACL, then a torn right meniscus cost him almost two complete NBA seasons, Rose, points. That's in keeping with Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau's lectures. "You can see him coming," Thibodeau said. "I really liked the way he played." Rose had a quiet outing after pouring in a season-high 31 (in 3112 minutes) during a Friday night win against Portland, which doesn't detract from the notion that he's feeling better than he has felt in a very long time.

When he's explosive and aggressive, Rose is a unique element at point guard both in the open court and close quarters. He can be an all-but-impossible defensive assignment. "They're still not double-teaming me," he the 2011 MVP, is back to something resembling full involvement for the first time in close to three calendar years. "I'm good," Rose said. "I'm at peace with myself." That's a new feeling, he said, because upon return from the first injury Rose admitted to "wanting it too much" fueled by a desire to "prove people wrong." He never forced an issue against the Heat while secure in the blanket of unselfishness.

"We don't care who scores," he said. His fourth-quarter burst of 11 came smoothly. "I had to keep in mind to be myself," said Rose, who is averaging 17.0 gstodapbpost.com Twitter: gregstoda jlieserpbpost.com Twitter: PBPjasonlieser 0 EDWIN WATTS GOLF TV TODAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL 7 am. Don at Duke 7 p.m. 9 p.m.

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The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida (2024)

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