End of game, Heat win 101-93 OT: Chalk this one up to poor decision-making by Chicago, which committed 20 turnovers (including four in the extra session) en route to a devastating loss that now leaves them in a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 hole.
Rose, who struggled in games 2 and 3, was frustrated again, shooting an horrific 8-of-27 from the field.
Mike Miller, of all people, was the guy who kept Miami in this game in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 (including nine in that final frame) — triple what he'd scored the entire postseason before this game.
Game 5 is in Chicago on Thursday night.
Overtime, 1:01, Heat 95-89: That does it. Chicago commits two awful, awful turnovers to help Miami open up a six-point lead (including one from Rose, who has seven in the game). It's gonna take miraculous 3-point shooting in the final minute to give Chicago a prayer.
Overtime, 1:36, Heat 93-89: The Big Three have scored all eight points for Miami in the final frame, including the last two from LeBron that seemed to take the wind out of Chicago.
Overtime, 1:49, Heat 91-88: Wade picks a good time to finally hit a shot (his first since the first half), drilling a baseline jumper to pull Miami ahead by three after a triple from Brewer.
Overtime, 2:46, Heat: 89-85: This is playing out precisely like Game 4 of the Celtics-Heat series — a terrible play at the end of by the Celtics/Bulls followed by zero energy left in the tank in the extra session.
Overtime, 3:43, Tied at 85: Why in the heck is D-Rose hanging out on the perimeter jacking up jumpers? Are the Bulls so exhausted that they can't run an offensive play?
End of regulation, 85-85: Terrible decision by Rose, who decided (for a second-straight time) to throw up a fallaway jumper over LeBron. He's 8-of-24 tonight. Perhaps taking it to the rim would've been the wiser choice.
Fourth quarter, 0:08, Tied at 85: LeBron commits an offensive foul on Brewer, leaving tons of time for Chicago to make something happen. Can't believe the refs made that call — it's the right call; I just can't believe they were willing to make a call against James.
Fourth quarter, 0:24, Tied at 85: Wade misses (3-of-13 tonight), followed by two bad decisions by Rose at the other end: (1) Shooting too late in the possession, essentially handing the Heat the final shot; and (2) Settling for a fallaway jumper over LeBron, who's got 7 inches on him. Gotta figure Spoelstra's gonna have it in LeBron's hands.
Fourth quarter, 1:14, Heat 85-84: Bosh knocks down an enormous jumper from the baseline to regain the lead after two clutch free throws by Ronnie Brewer at the other end. Both teams, by the way, have climbed to above 40 percent shooting on the night.
Fourth quarter, 2:10, Heat 83-82: Gotta say it — LeBron traveled on that and-one. But it gives Miami the lead. Rose has gotta get into the paint at the other end and create.
Fourth quarter, 2:53, Tied at 80: The two best players tonight? Deng (18 points, great defense) and Miller (12 points, most of them in the fourth, and six boards).
Fourth quarter, 3:12, Tied at 80: Rose can't get a shot over LeBron (who's now guarding him), and Mike Miller has erupted in the fourth to keep his team in it.
Fourth quarter, 4:09, Bulls 80-78: Boozer redeems himself with an and-one at the other end.
Fourth quarter, 4:27, Heat 78-76: A flop by Bosh, and an unbelievably stupid foul by Boozer, results in a flagrant foul that helps pull Miami ahead.
Fourth quarter, 6:34, Bulls 73-72: D-Rose split a triple-team to draw a foul. He might try to just put this thing on his shoulders, and it's gonna be either a complete disaster or an historic moment.
Fourth quarter, 7:30, Heat 72-71: Both teams look exhausted. LeBron has gone into his Cavaliers-esque one-on-five mode, and the Bulls are launching 3s instead of getting their buckets in transition. Also, Wade called from his house to say that his car broke down and he couldn't make the game tonight.
Fourth quarter, 8:58, Heat 70-69: Tom Thibodeau might wanna let his players know now — from here on out, the refs are gonna call a foul every time LeBron and Wade touch the ball. Just look back at the Boston tape.
Fourth quarter, 10:18, Heat 70-69: Mike Miller? Mike Miller is the guy who leads Miami back into this thing? The guy whose hands are covered in braces scores five straight to cap a 7-1 run in South Beach.
Fourth quarter, 10:42, Bulls 69-68: A note from Chicago fans to D-Rose: Please stop taking 3s. You're 1-of-7 tonight. His miss is followed by a Mike Miller dagger.
End of third quarter, Bulls 68-63: Wade and Bosh, by the way, have a combined 20 points. If he/Miami can't bounce back in the fourth, chalk it up to poor nights from the two of 'em.
End of third quarter, Bulls 68-63: Rose picked the right time to hit his first triple in six tries, giving Chicago a five-point edge heading into the final frame. Remember, Miami has yet to lose in South Beach this postseason, and Boston had fourth-quarter leads twice on 'em in the semifinals.
Third quarter, 0:40, Bulls 65-63: Time and again this postseason, the Heat have used a monster dunk by LeBron to lift them emotionally. That one might do it, especially with the Bulls showing signs of fatigue on defense.
Third quarter, 2:24, Bulls 63-57: Chicago has committed 13 turnovers and 16 fouls. Otherwise, they'd have this thing wrapped up.
Third quarter, 6:50, Bulls 57-53: This just in — a third-grade rec ball player beat Joakim Noah in a layup drill.
Third quarter, 8:18, Bulls 55-48: Deng is having perhaps the best night of anyone on the floor, now with 16 points (7-of-10 shooting) and three boards, while holding LeBron to 4-for-12 from the field.
Third quarter, 10:06, Bulls 48-46: Bulls have undoubtedly been their best in transition tonight, notching 17 fast-break points to Miami's nine. It also seems to be the only way to get Rose going against this Heat defense.
End of first half, Bulls 46-44: Storylines in the first half: (1) LeBron was both great and terrible, scoring 12 but with four turnovers; (2) Same for D-Rose, who went only 4-14 from the field but helped lead the comeback in the second quarter with some emotional plays in transition; (3) and Miami stayed in it with 21 free-throw attempts to Chicago's eight.
D-Rose will have to be more consistent, and his team will have to turn the ball over less often (10 in the first half) if they want to avoid a 3-1 hole.
Second quarter, 1:38, Bulls 43-42: Good Lord, that might've been the most spectacular play this postseason — Rose with a hammer dunk over Joel Anthony. Every bit of pent-up frustration from the past three games was bottled in that slam.
Second quarter, 2:02, Tied at 40: Another Miami turnover (eight of them) leads to an explosive play in transition by Rose (who's only 3-of-12).
Second quarter, 3:18, Heat 37-34: Wow, LeBron turned that over literally by trying to dribble through his legs — with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Leads to a 6-0 run for Chicago.
Second quarter, 5:35, Heat 37-28: Two things going on in this 9-0 Miami run: (1) The Heat are simply in D-Rose's head. He's missing wide-open looks in the paint; (2) Wade decided to asser himself, scoring four straight ahead of the Chicago timeout.
Second quarter, 7:16, Heat 33-28: Quietly, the Heat have opened up a five-point lead, mostly on stupid mistakes by the Bulls. Chicago now has seven turnovers, and we've just learned it's doubtful Asik will be back (strained leg).
Second quarter, 8:13, Heat 29-28: Both teams are struggling mightily from the free-throw line — 3-of-6 for Chicago; 9-of-15 for Miami.
Second quarter, 9:40, Tied at 28: "Inside Trax" might be the best evidence yet that Spoelstra's a broken record. He should copyright "Weather the storm."
Second quarter, 9:40, Tied at 28: C.J. Watson and Mario Chalmers trading baskets, combining for 12 points in the first two minutes of this quarter. Didn't think I'd write that sentence tonight.
Second quarter, 11:12, Heat 22-20: Hot start to the second for Miami, which has scored five straight out of the gates. Bulls' backup center Omer Asik is heading back to the lockerroom.
End of first quarter, Bulls, 19-16: It's all LeBron for Miami, who scores 10 in the period to keep Miami close. Otherwise, Chicago mounted a monster defensive effort, holding the Heat to 28 percent shooting (including 1-of-5 for Wade).
First quarter, 0:55, Bulls 19-12: Wade and Bosh have a combined 2 points thus far in the first.
First quarter, 2:11, Bulls 19-10: Despite the big lead, D-Rose has been sub-par again tonight — 2-of-8 from the field and a turnover.
First quarter, 4:22, Bulls 19-8: Two straight Heat turnovers out of a timeout help continue a 19-4 run for Chicago.
First quarter, 5:28, Bulls 13-8: Bulls are shooting a miserable 36 percent from the field. But everything's relative. Heat are logging 29 percent. The offensive boards have been the difference — 4-1 in favor of Chicago.
First quarter, 5:44, Bulls 13-8: Noah should do himself a favor and never shoot a jump shot again. 'Course, he followed it with a putback.
First quarter, 6:29, Bulls 11-8: Unfortunate development for Chicago — two quick fouls for Luol Deng, bringing Ronnie Brewer off the bench. Deng has played more than 40 minutes in each of these games, precisely because he can help put the kabosh on LeBron.
First quarter, 7:00, Bulls 11-6: A 3 by Keith Bogans = good sign for Chicago. The starting SG has scored just 12 points through three games.
First quarter, 8:08, Bulls 8-4: Bulls have quickly silenced the Heat crowd (plenty have been calling them "fake fans" throughout this season) with an 8-0 run, including two from Rose.
First quarter, 9:51, Heat 4-2: D-Wade misses a wide-open dunk at one end, followed by a score for Joakim Noah. That'll take the wind out of your sails.
First quarter, 10:26, Heat 4-0: Not a good start for D-Rose, who promised to be more aggressive this game. He's 0-2 from the field ona 3 and an inside jumper.
7:35 p.m.: Quick injury update about an hour from tipoff: Bulls' backup center Omer Asik missed today's shootaround and will be a game-time decision.
8 a.m.: Everyone seemed to be waiting for Chris Bosh to take over a playoff game.
The Miami Heat power forward scored 30 points last Sunday in Game 1 against the Bulls, but Miami lost.
This Sunday, Bosh reminded us why Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade were so eager to land him as part of the Big Three, dropping 34 points on 13-of-18 shooting. He played all but five minutes of a commanding 96-85 Game 3 win in South Beach and is now, believe it or not, the leading scorer in the series.
"C.B. had it going," LeBron James said afterwards. "When we have someone going on our team, we continue to go to him."
The outburst from Bosh, and a solid point guard-type night by LeBron (10 assists, 22 points), gave Miami a 2-1 series edge and reestablished the air of invincibility that surrounded the team after its 4-1 ouster of the Boston Celtics in the second round.
League MVP Derrick Rose, meanwhile, struggled mightily for the second straight game, limited to 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting and just five assists.
"It's definitely frustrating," Rose said after the game. "Our will wasn't there tonight. They still found a way to win."
That frustration boiled over early, when Joakim Noah in the first quarter hurled a gay slur at a Miami Heat fan. He'll likely face a similar punishment to that of Kobe Bryant, who was fined $100,000 in April for making a similar remark to a referee.
Chicago essentially has one more try to get back on track. Another loss Tuesday night in Game 4, and they could be staring at the dreaded 3-1 deficit.
It will take a reemphasis on defense and an otherwordly performance from Rose to beat the double-teams the Heat are throwing at him. Check back here Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. and onward for coverage of Game 4 in Miami.