Bulls Beat Heat in Opener

The Chicago Bulls beat the defending champion Miami Heat in the opening game of their first round series. The Bulls pulled away from the Heat midway through the third quarter and then held Miami off long enough to secure a one game lead in the series.

Luol Deng led all scorers with 33 points, and Ben Gordon added 24. Shaq was quiet during the game, only scoring 19 points. O’Neal played 27 minutes, though he was constantly in foul trouble. After the game Shaq got a lot noisier, blaming his performance on the refs. Said Shaq, “It’s just unfortunate that people fall for that. I’m used to just outplaying somebody and just playing hard, but I guess that’s what you got to do to stop Shaq.”

If you want to see the Bulls play at home again in the series, you should check out StubHub.com for Chicago Bulls playoff tickets for the game Tuesday night. Though many people have picked the Heat to win the series, an opening game loss is a big determinate as to how a series will go. Shaq and the Heat will have to readjust their strategy, especially if the refs are going to keep a close eye on stuff going on down low.