- Bulls–Heat rivalry
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Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat History Post Season Meetings 17-9 (CHI) 1992 Eastern Conference First Round Bulls won, 3–0 1996 Eastern Conference First Round Bulls won, 3–0 1997 Eastern Conference Finals Bulls won, 4–1 2006 Eastern Conference First Round Heat won, 4–2 2007 Eastern Conference First Round Bulls won, 4–0 2011 Eastern Conference Finals Heat won, 4-1 The Bulls-Heat rivalry began once the Miami Heat became playoff contenders during the 1990s, a decade dominated by the Chicago Bulls. During that period, the Heat were eliminated 3 times by the Bulls, who would go on to win the title each time.
The rivalry has returned due to the return of the Bulls to the playoffs in the post-Michael Jordan era and the emergence of rising superstars Dwyane Wade, and Derrick Rose. This rekindled rivalry has been very physical, involving rough plays and hard fouls between players, most notably the actions of former Heat player James Posey.
The beginning
This rivalry began once the Miami Heat, having played in the league only since 1988, became a playoff contender. Unfortunately, this occurred during the time Michael Jordan was leading the Bulls to championship three-peats.
The first playoff meeting between the teams occurred in the first round of the 1992 NBA Playoffs. The Bulls, led by Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant and coached by Phil Jackson, were the defending champions and had accumulated a 67-15 record, the Central Division title, and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat, with Glen Rice, Steve Smith, and Rony Seikaly, had reached the NBA Playoffs for the 1st time in franchise history with a 42-40 record, which made them the 8th seed. The Bulls swept the Heat in three straight en route to their 2nd consecutive NBA title.
The second time the two teams met, in the 1996 NBA Playoffs, the Bulls, now with Jordan, Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoč, and Steve Kerr, had compiled the best NBA regular season record of 72-10 and were hungry to regain the NBA title after a 2-year hiatus. The Miami Heat, now coached by Pat Riley with Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Chris Gatling, and Walt Williams, managed to clinch the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 42-40 record. However, the Bulls proved to be too much for Miami (and everybody else that season, for that matter) as they swept Miami 3-0 for the second straight time and would eventually cap a historic season with their 4th NBA title.
The Heat would take the following season to hone their plan of attack on the Bulls. Utilizing the same aggressive brute-like tactics he employed while coaching New York, Coach Riley conditioned a tough Miami team designed to break the Bulls. After dropping the first two regular season match-ups to Chicago (as-per-usual), Riley's plan started to take effect. The Heat crushed the Bulls in the latter 2 regular season match-ups. The Heat returned to the playoffs in high fashion with their first Atlantic Division title, revamped (with new additions Dan Majerle, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, and Voshon Lenard) and franchise-best record of 61-21 in the regular season and 2nd seed behind the 69-13 Bulls. However, when they met in the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals, Miami's self-assured plan fell flat as they fell behind 3-0 to the Bulls before winning their first playoff game in the matchup in Game 4 87-80, heeding Alonzo Mourning's guarantee of a victory. One of the incidents of the series was when Scottie Pippen received an elbow to the head by Mourning and getting a large swollen bump. Michael Jordan took it personally and provided the Bulls with the spark they needed to blow Miami out of the United Center in Game 5 100-87. Mourning would not make his first field goal of the game until the next-to-last possession. The Bulls went on to defend their title against the Jazz in the Finals.
Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat (February 23, 1996 Game @ The Miami Arena)
During the 1995-96 NBA season, one in which the eventual champion Bulls would finish with a record-breaking 72-10 record, the Heat defeated the Bulls 113-104 despite having only eight players on its roster after completing three trades the previous day. Having sent away five players at the trade deadline including starters Kevin Willis, Bimbo Coles, and Billy Owens, the Heat struggled to meet the league requirement of eight roster players until one of its newly acquired players, guard Tony Smith, made it on time to play in the game.[1] Heat Coach Pat Riley said that had Smith, who started in the game and scored 16 points, not made it on time, they would have had to "sign somebody off of the street." [2] Rex Chapman was the game's high-scorer with 39 points while shooting 9-10 on three point field goals. The game is considered by many to be the greatest upset in Heat history.
The post-Jordan era
The rivalry went into a dormant phase due to intervention by the Knicks (who eliminated the Heat in the first round of the 1998 NBA Playoffs) and the dismantling of the Bulls dynasty after the 1998 championship. The next time the two teams met was in the first round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs. The Miami Heat, a year removed from a trip to the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals, were led by former Laker and three-time champion center Shaquille O'Neal, emerging superstar shooting guard Dwyane Wade, and coach Pat Riley, who returned to coaching earlier in the season after a short hiatus. The Bulls, having returned to the postseason for the second consecutive year, consisted of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon, and Luol Deng forming a team that relied on accurate perimeter offense and strong overall team defense. The Southeast Division-leading Heat were the second seed in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Central Division leading Detroit Pistons, while the Bulls were the seventh seed. The Heat were expected to put the Bulls away early, but the young Bulls held their own and won their first two home games—Games 3 and 4—after the Heat won the first two games at Miami. Notable in this series was a flagrant foul committed by defensive specialist James Posey on Hinrich during a fast break. Posey was immediately ejected due to the severity of the foul. After a little private squabble among Heat players, the Heat regrouped and won the next two games and, eventually, won their first NBA championship.
At the start of the 2006-2007 season, the Heat hosted the Bulls in the Heat season opener. The Bulls, now retooled with new players (the most notable being former Piston Ben Wallace), blew out the Heat, giving the Heat the worst season-opening loss of a defending NBA champion.
Throughout the season, the incident involving Posey did not remain an isolated incident. Throughout the season, in games between the Heat and the Bulls, Posey was involved in a few hard fouls and rough plays against various Bulls players. Bulls fans did not forget this, often expressing their dislike of his plays.
The two teams met again in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. The Bulls finished the season on a strong note, but lost their last regular season game against the New Jersey Nets which, along with a Cleveland Cavaliers win over the Milwaukee Bucks, cost the Bulls the second seed, dropping them to the fifth seed. The Detroit Pistons already clinched both the Central Division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The defending champion Miami Heat, ravaged with injuries to key players throughout the season, managed to catch up in the standings and clinch the Southeast Division title and the fourth seed.
The Bulls, having been eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years, felt they were ready to advance with the experience they earned from the previous years. They won the first two games at Chicago, thanks to a breakout performance by Luol Deng. In Game 2, P.J. Brown bumped James Posey, much to the delight of the Chicago fans, and referee Steve Javie called Brown for a flagrant foul because, according to Javie, Posey was bumped in the air. The league rescinded it after viewing the film. Near the end of the game, the Chicago fans got into the rivalry by chanting, "Posey sucks!" The series shifted to Miami for Games 3 and 4, where the Heat manage to gain the lead at the half of each game. The Bulls, however, had big third quarters in both games, which earned them the lead and, eventually, the win in both games. The Miami Heat become the first defending NBA championship to get swept in the first round of the NBA Playoffs in fifty years since the Syracuse Nationals swept the Philadelphia Warriors in the first round of the 1957 playoffs.
Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls (April 10, 1999 Game @ United Center)
Chicago scored an all-time NBA record low (in the shot clock era) 49 points in a loss to the Heat 82-49. Kornel David led Chicago with 13 points.
Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat (April 5, 2006 Game @ American Airlines Arena)
Chicago's Andres Nocioni got called for a flagrant foul on Dwyane Wade and pushed him, and the Heat's Udonis Haslem got ejected after coming to Wade's defense on April 5, 2006.
Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat (2006 Eastern Conference First Round, Game 3)
In Game 3 of the Bulls-Heat First Round series, Kirk Hinrich was moving down the court when James Posey hit Hinrich with a hard shoulder block knocking Hinrich down to the floor, was called for a Flagrant-2 Foul, and ejected from the game. Posey was later suspended from the 4th game of the series.[3]
Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat (2006-07 NBA season opener)
In the season opener of the 2006-07 NBA Season. James Posey was involved in another incident with Bulls rookie Tyrus Thomas, who was going for the rebound, was hit in the face by Posey which led to Thomas having his nose broken and missing a few games, and having to wear a protective mask for a few games when he returned.[4]
Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat (December 27, 2006 Game @ the United Center)
In this game, Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade was injured in the right wrist with a sprain when coming off the screen and got tangled up with Kirk Hinrich. After the game Pat Riley accused Hinrich of being a "dirty player."
"Hinrich pulled his hand. Hinrich grabbed his hand, which he does all of the time...That's what he does anytime Dwyane comes off screens. They always either grab his shirt or hand. It's a little bit of a tactic down below the body. The officials can't see it. So he had Dwyane's hand and tried to pull it out of there."
Also in his third incident with the Bulls, James Posey was ejected from the game when he flagrantly fouled Luol Deng, who was going for a lay-up when he was clotheslined by Posey in midair. Posey was suspended for one game.[5] After hitting the floor Deng appeared to be hurt grabbing his right wrist, which had surgery a year before. Ben Gordon did not appreciate Riley's comments after the game, especially since Heat forward James Posey was ejected for taking down Luol Deng from behind in the fourth quarter.
"I heard him saying something about Kirk. Kirk didn't do anything dirty...he was just playing aggressive defense. Posey's was way more blatant. I don't appreciate him taking shots at our guys."
The Revival
Recent events have revived the rivalry. In the 2008 NBA Draft the Heat were the favorite for the first pick, but with a 1.7 percent chance, the Bulls won the lottery and selected Derrick Rose while the Heat selected Michael Beasley with the 2nd pick. The 2010 Free Agency class breathed new life into both franchises with the Bulls receiving Carlos Boozer from the Utah Jazz and the Heat forming a "Big Three" with Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. Lebron James was heavily recruited by the Bulls for free agency and looked to be the favorite to land James, but James decided to form the "Big Three" in Miami with his friends Wade and Bosh. With these two teams being hyped as possible contenders in the East and indeed the Bulls eventually ranked first in the Eastern Conference and the Heat second, this rivalry is expecting a large revival culminating in the fact that all three of the free agents Miami gained were favorites to go to Chicago at one point or another with Dwyane Wade being from Chicago and his children living in Chicago.
As expected, they played against each other in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls, thanks to a hot-shooting Derrick Rose, won Game 1 handily at home. But LeBron James responded by guarding Rose in Game 2. Without a secondary scorer, and thanks to a resurgent James and a return-to-form performance by Udonis Haslem, the Bulls fell in Game 2. The Heat won both Games 3 and 4 in Miami, with game 4 being decided in overtime , and again thanks to a shared defensive effort in containing Rose. Back in Chicago for Game 5, the Bulls held their ground for much of the game, until a late fourth-quarter Miami run and a key block on Rose's game-tying three cost Chicago the series. The final four losses of the series marked the first time all season that the Bulls lost four straight games. The Heat made the NBA Finals for only the second time in the team's history and denied Rose, the league's MVP, a chance to become the first player since Tim Duncan to win the MVP and the championship in the same season.
Head to head
The results in parenthesis concern the play-off games.
Season at Chicago Bulls
Bulls–Heatat Miami Heat
Heat–BullsTotal
Bulls-Heat1988–89 111–88 108–112 2–0 1989–90 119-105, 111-103 107-114, 95-107 4–0 1990–91 112–103, 108–87 106–117, 101–111 4–0 1991–92 108-99, 123-81
(113-94, 120-90)106-108, 100-116
(114-119)4-0
(3-0)1992–93 86-82, 119-92 100-105, 97-95 3–1 1993–94 71-95, 101-109 99-104, 90-96 2–2 1994–95 133-88, 111-85 91-83, 93-98 3–1 1995-96 102-80, 100-92
(102-85, 106-75)113-104, 92-110
(91-112)3-1
(3-0)1996-97 103-71, 80-83
(84-77, 75-68, 100-87)100-106, 102-92
(74-98, 87-80)2-2
(4-1)1997-98 90-80, 106-91 99-72 2-1 1998-99 49-82 90-74, 86-101 1-2 1999-00 87-105, 83-76 85-92, 105-80 2-2 2000-01 89-82, 90-97 90-81, 109-81 1-3 2001-02 78-72, 87-92 92-79, 102-80 1-3 2002-03 82-74 102-101, 100-90 1-2 2003-04 83-90, 83-97 102-95, 105-96 0-4 2004-05 81-105, 105-101 108-97, 104-86 1-3 2005-06 97-100, 84-85
(109-90, 93-87, 96-113)93-117
(111-106, 115-108, 92-78)1-2
(2-4)2006-07 109-103, 100-97
(96-91, 107-89)66-108, 103-70
(96-104, 79-92)3-1
(4-0)2007-08 99-92 96-126, 95-88 2-1 2008-09 93-95, 106-87 90-77, 130-127 1-3 2009-10 95-91, 74-103 95-87, 108-95 1-3 2010-11 99-96, 93-89
(103-82, 75-85, 80-83)86-87
(96-85, 101-93 )3-0
(1-4)Statistics
Chicago Bulls Miami Heat Total wins 64 46 At Chicago Bulls 40 17 At Miami Heat 24 29 Regular season wins 47 37 At Chicago Bulls 28 14 At Miami Heat 19 23 Play off wins 17 9 At Chicago Bulls 12 3 At Miami Heat 5 6 References
- ^ "Hardaway heads for the Heat in trade". Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1996. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-02-23/sports/sp-39177_1_miami-heat. Retrieved August, 3 2010.
- ^ "HEAT 20th Anniversary Moment: 8 is Enough". Miami Heat channel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blwA_dzwx-0. Retrieved August, 3 2010.
- ^ "Suspended for Game 4, Posey won't back down". findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060430/ai_n16216925. Retrieved April 30, 2006.[dead link]
- ^ Hanley, Brian (November 1, 2006). "Thomas learns breaks of game". chicagosuntimes.com. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/bulls/118997,CST-SPT-bullnt01.article. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
- ^ "Posey suspended one game for flagrant foul". espn.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2714015. Retrieved December 29, 2006.
Chicago Bulls Founded in 1966 • Based in Chicago, IllinoisThe Franchise Arenas Head Coaches D-League Affiliate NBA Finals Appearances (6) NBA Championships (6) Retired Jerseys Hall of Famers Key Personnel Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf • Vice President of Basketball Operations: John Paxson • General Manager: Gar Forman • Coach: Tom ThibodeauRivals Culture & Lore Hare Jordan and Air Jordan • Disputed Foul Against Scottie Pippen • The Shot • Tommy Edwards • Benny the Bull • "Sirius" • Ray Clay • 72-10 • The Flu Game • Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals • The Last Shot • Jerry Krause • The Zen Master • "The Madhouse on Madison" • "The Madhouse on Madison II"/"The House That Jordan Built" • Ashland Green Line Station • Game 6 of the 2009 NBA Playoffs First RoundMedia TVRadioMiami Heat Founded in 1988 • Based in Miami, FloridaThe Franchise Franchise • History • Expansion Draft • All-Time roster • Seasons • Broadcasters • Draft history • Records • Head coaches • Current seasonArenas Head coaches General managers D-League Affiliate NBA Championships (1) Conference Championships (2) Culture and lore Retired numbers Rivals Chicago Bulls • New York Knicks • Orlando MagicNational Basketball Association rivalries Eastern Conference Atlantic DivisionCeltics–76ersCentral DivisionInterdivisionalWestern Conference Southwest DivisionRockets–SpursInterdivisionalJazz–Rockets · Lakers–Spurs · Spurs–Suns · Lakers–RocketsInterconference Celtics–Lakers · Lakers–Pistons
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