Mar 27, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) reacts at the end of the second half against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bulls beat the Heat 101-97. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Heat’s 27 game win streak was snapped last night at the hands of the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls in a 101-97 loss. Being a witness of how this team plays, it wasn’t too surprising that the Heat lost last night. Throughout the three seasons that this team has been assembled, they’ve had an offensive philosophy that at some time or another will fail, and last night was one of those times.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James combined for 71 of the 97 points the Heat scored, while the rest of the team contributed the remaining 26. While Miami has been dominant, and nearly unstoppable, their Big Three has produced most of the points, as they should. But the rest of the team, except for a few games this season, don’t have a major impact in games. In the game against the Boston Celtics, Mario Chalmers was the x-factor, scoring 21 points, and hitting clutch shots down the stretch of that game. However, the bench managed to only score 14 points. Because this team has three superstars they can get away with the lack of production off the bench, but if their opponent shuts down just one or two of their key players, the chance of a loss increases.

Last night in Chicago, only three players finished in double-figures in points scored. That’s not going to get it done, especially against a defensively sound team like the Bulls. On the opposite bench, Chicago had four players with 14 or more points, with Nate Robinson supplying 14 points of his own off the bench. The Heat have never been known as a superb defensive team, and if other teams spread the floor and have good point distribution, Miami becomes a very beatable team.

If there is one thing to take away from last night’s game, it would be that the Heat aren’t invincible. They allowed 12 offensive rebounds and overall were out-rebounded 43-31. Teams that have size have a good chance at stealing a game away from the Heat because they can’t field any size of their own. Miami’s lack of size has been a problem over the last few seasons, but since no one can matchup against the Big Three, the lack of depth in the front court gets overlooked.

Clearly, it was a letdown game for Miami, which has been anticipated by fans outside of Florida since this win streak began. The Bulls were without Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton, and Joakim Noah, and to see the Heat lose to a team that on paper is inferior, was a shock. Teams all around the league need to be taking notes after last night. Height, defense, point distribution, and rebounding is the formula to beating Miami, and if they matchup with a team that has those qualities, it might not be an easy series for the reigning NBA champions.

Feb 13, 2013; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chicago Bulls forward/center Carlos Boozer (5) during the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden. The Boston Celtics won 71-69. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, it was reported by multiple sources, that the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors were close to making a trade that would send Carlos Boozer and Nate Robinson to Toronto for Andrea Bargnani and John Lucas III. As of today the deal is still on the table, the hold up is that neither team has agreed to the trade yet.

From the Chicago Tribune -

Of course, that might not happen if the Bulls make a move by Thursday’s trade deadline. League sources said last week the Raptors were told that the Carlos Boozer and Nate Robinson deal for Bargnani and John Lucas III was available whenever they wanted it.

The Chicago Bulls certainly aren’t going to make the first move, and if the Toronto Raptors really want Boozer they’ll have to be the ones who innitiate the trade. The Bulls are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference, and due to injuries they’ve slowly fallen down the ladder. It was also reported this week that Derrick Rose might not make his return to the hardwood this season. He’s nowhere near where he wants to be physically, and for Rose who is an athletic guard, he wouldn’t be able to play at full speed which is his game on offense.

With that news, it’s possible that Chicago is open to such a trade because they don’t feel that they’ll get far without Rose, and trading Boozer would open up cap space to give Chicago the opportunity at signing a big name player in the offseason. However, the Bulls have done very well without Rose up to this point and could still get deep into the playoffs. But since Chicago has had the taste of winning a championship, albeit 15 years ago, a second round exit would not satisfy the organization. Sacrificing this season to have a better chance next season would be a great move on Chicago’s part. This would explain why Chicago is willing to make the move.

Would this trade make the Bulls worse? Absolutely. Andrea Bargnani is a good player, but he’s not enough to help Chicago get to the next level. Chicago does have a great, young nucleus to build around, but swapping Boozer for Bargnani is not the answer.

However, what a trade it would be for the Toronto Raptors who acquired Rudy Gay recently. Toronto would not be a team to mess with, and if they’re smart, they’ll make sure this trade goes through.

Feb 13, 2013; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward/center Kevin Garnett (5) and Chicago Bulls forward/center Joakim Noah (13) battle under the basket for a rebound during the fourth quarter at TD Banknorth Garden. The Boston Celtics won 71-69. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics just barely got by the Chicago Bulls 71-69. This game ties for the seventh lowest scoring outing in Boston Celtics history since the shot clock era started. 71 points doesn’t usually get you by, but it did in tonights game. In the preview of the game,  we stated that the Celtics wouldn’t be able to win the game offensively, but we had no clue that it would come down to this.

Neither team shot over 38% on the night in this eye gouging slugfest, but there had to be a winner in the end. It took a defensive stand in the last seconds for the C’s to come away with this one. While there aren’t really any good grades to give out, there were some tremendous efforts.

Starters

Courtney Lee:  C-

Lee wasn’t very effective tonight–but then again no one really was. He guarded the two guard position for a majority of the night and did pretty well with that. He added seven points and two steals to his total in 28 minutes.

Avery Bradley: D+

Avery Bradley had a decent game as well relative to this one. He was on Nate Robinson for a majority of the game and only allowed him to score six points. Robinson had six assists and only one turnover, though. Avery has to prevent that. He ended up fouling out in the game and only scored 10 points on 12 shots.

Paul Pierce: F x2

This was the worst game I’ve seen Paul Pierce play in quite some time. He had six assists and three turnovers on the night, but only scored eight points on 12 shots. He only made two shots and they were both three point attempts. He had six rebounds and contributed to that total, but for his standards this game was awful.

Brandon Bass: B

Brandon Bass played a good game tonight. He was guarding Joakim Noah tonight along with Kevin Garnett and Noah had only two assists. Noah killed him on the rebounds, but Bass still had nine himself. That went along with a game high 14 points for the Celtics.

Kevin Garnett: C

Kevin Garnett really started to show life late in the game on the defensive end. He finished the game with a double double scoring 12 points on 12 shots and also snatched 11 rebounds.

Sixth Man & Bench

Jeff Green: C-

Jeff Green was very aggressive tonight which is always a good sign. The problem was that he wasn’t effective. He missed all four of his shots from beyond the arch and finished the game 2-8 for eight points. He contributed five rebounds and only turned the ball over twice. He did minimal damage to the Celtics’ cause tonight and that’s all you can ask in a game like this.

Jason Terry: B

Terry had one of the better games from tonight. He scored 12 points on 11 shots and shot 50% from three. he had three assists and one block as well. He stepped up defensively late and helped the Celtics win the game.

Jason Collins: F

Jason Collins didn’t offer anything but three rebounds and two fouls, really. He missed his only shot from the field and wasn’t really a threat.

Chris Wilcox: F

Chris Wilcox was ineffective as well. He didn’t get a shot up in his 11 minutes and dind’t really play well defensively either. The two bigs off of the bench didn’t really give anything in the big picture tonight.