Heat Continues to Struggle in Loss at Chicago
The Miami Heat has now lost three games in a row. Three-game skids are rare for the Heat and this one comes at a inopportune time as the team they are chasing for the top seed seed in the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers has also lost four straight. Of course, an optimist would say that it is a good thing they had this streak where they have lost to the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls and did not lose any ground.
The Bulls have been playing well for a long while now. They are now 35-28 after staring 14-18. Joakim Noah has been a huge part of the Bulls success since losing star guard Derrick Rose for the second straight year and trading away Luol Deng. He had 20 points and 12 rebounds and D. J Augustin and 22 points as they held the Heat to two points in overtime.
Despite the skid, the Heat still trails the Pacers by only one game and are even in the loss column. They were led by Dwayne Wade with 25 points and Lebron James with 17 although he had a tough shooting night going 8-23.
The Pacers are 46-17 after dropping their fourth in a row on Sunday in a 104-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Pacers have to be a bit frustrated by not taking advantage of the Miami slump. They need to get the home court advantage away from the Heat because they need a Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals to be played at home. It’s tough enough to dethrone a two time champ. It is really tough to do it on the road.
The other NBA Southeast Division teams looking forward to the playoffs are the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks. None were in action on Sunday but all three will be on Monday. The Wizards are at the Heat in what could become bad timing. The Heat will really be looking forward to some home cooking after three straight road losses. Washington is in the fifth spot in the conference trailing the Bulls by a game and a half.
The Bobcats are currently in the seventh spot at 29-34. They will host the Denver Nuggets on Monday with a shot at their 30th win. That may not seem like a big deal but this a team that went 7-59 just two seasons ago. They hold at two game lead over the eighth place Hawks who will be at the Utah Jazz on Monday. The Hawks nearly pulled off a shocker on Saturday when they lost to the red hot Los Angeles Clippers 109-108.
