A strong stretch run has brought the Chicago Bulls to the edge of their second straight postseason appearance. Chicago (38-41) can win for the 10th time in 12 games and clinch the final Eastern Conference playoff spot when they visit the Miami Heat on Sunday at noon (12:00 p.m. CT | ABC/ESPN Radio 1000). Looking for consecutive postseason berths since winning NBA titles in 1996-1998, the Bulls are in eighth place in the East, 1 1/2 games in front of the Philadelphia 76ers with three contests to play. Ben Gordon tied a league record by hitting all nine shots from the arc en route to scoring 32 points and Kirk Hinrich added 19 points for Chicago in Friday's 103-101 victory over Washington. Miami (52-27) has won three of its last four and clinched the second seed in the East. There is a chance the Heat could meet the Bulls in the opening round of the playoffs. Dwyane Wade scored 25 points and Udonis Haslem added 24 and 14 rebounds for the Heat in Friday's 104-85 triumph over the 76ers. Miami has won six of the last seven encounters against Chicago and is 31-9 at home this season. Tune in to watch today's game on ABC and listen to it on ESPN Radio 1000 (pregame show at 11:30 a.m.). Probable Bulls Starters Guard 12 Kirk Hinrich 6-3 | 190 Guard 7 Ben Gordon 6-3 | 200 Forward 5 Andres Nocioni 6-7 | 225 Forward 35 Malik Allen 6-10 | 255 Center 50 Michael Sweetney 6-8 | 270 Probable Heat Starters Guard 20 Gary Payton 6-4 | 190 Guard 3 Dwyane Wade 6-4 | 212 Forward 42 James Posey 6-8 | 217 Forward 40 Udonis Haslem 6-8 | 235 Center 32 Shaquille O'Neal 7-1 | 325 Injury Report Bulls Chris Duhon (low back pain) is a game-time decision. Darius Songaila (right foot fracture) is out. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report at Bulls.com. Heat Alonzo Mourning (partial tear of the right calf muscle), James Posey (right Achilles tendinitis), and Jason Williams (right knee tendinitis) are on Miami's injury report. Series Notes Chicago owns a 36-29 lead in the all-time series, including a 21-12 advantage in games played in Chicago ... the Heat has won nine of the last 10 meetings, including 11 straight at Miami ... the Heat have scored 100+ points against the Bulls in five of the last six games ... the Bulls won their first meeting with the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena (92-85 on Jan. 18, 2000) but have dropped 11-straight in the Sunshine State since.
A couple things I noticed... 1. Scottie Pippen complemented Skiles prior to the game saying “he has taken a scrub team to the playoffs two years in a row” completely disrespecting our team, but then contradicted himself saying “if you don’t put your best talent on the floor against the Bulls they can embarrass you”. 2. The Bulls can play with any team in the league when playoff time comes around, and hang around in any game. 3. Deng has played incredibly well on his 21 birthday.
14 point lead going into the 4th. And it seems like the bulls are doing a great job defending Wade (8 pts on 2-12 shooting so far).
Damn that flagrent foul on Deng was nasty. Thank god he is ok this is not the same team without Deng.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">A couple things I noticed... 1. Scottie Pippen complemented Skiles prior to the game saying ?he has taken a scrub team to the playoffs two years in a row? completely disrespecting our team, but then contradicted himself saying ?if you don?t put your best talent on the floor against the Bulls they can embarrass you?. 2. The Bulls can play with any team in the league when playoff time comes around, and hang around in any game. 3. Deng has played incredibly well on his 21 birthday.</div> Pippen was talking about it, but, he said it after he was saying something about the Bulls then he said you could even call them a scrub team. Said he would vote Skiles COTY. Loves the Bulls lol.
Good win, especially coming from behind. Another playoff birth coming no where to do it. We win tomorrow and Milwaukee lose (have Detroit, so it could be likely) we jump upto 7th seed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGR]http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/nocioni_300_060416.jpg[/IMGR] Luol Deng had the happiest of birthdays. On the day he turned 21, Deng scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting as the Chicago Bulls rallied past the Miami Heat, 117-93, to clinch their second straight playoff berth. Deng has no plans to party. Facing a tough game at Orlando on Monday night, the Bulls' focus is on trying to gain a higher playoff seeding. "It's a good feeling to clinch it on my birthday, but we want to build on this and see if we can climb a bit more," Deng said. "I had good looks (today) and didn't think twice about taking shots." Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni added 18 points apiece and Kirk Hinrich chipped in 17 and eight assists for the Bulls (39-41), who won for the 11th time in 13 games to move into a three-way tie with Indiana and Milwaukee for sixth place in the East. "We have a burst of momentum going now and we want to keep it up," Gordon said. "It's all about winning from here on out." Washington (39-40) is in fifth place but has not yet clinched a playoff spot. Chicago coach Scott Skiles took pride in his team's effort in rallying from an early 15-point deficit. "We showed resiliency and played a lot harder after that (deficit)," Skiles said. "We started attacking the rim a little bit more instead of just shooting jumpers." The Heat held a 40-25 lead with 10:45 left in the second quarter, but the Bulls outscored them, 33-13, the rest of the half and pushed their advantage to 88-74 entering the fourth quarter. "They were playing for something really big today and they got it," Miami coach Pat Riley said of the Bulls. "We played well the first 16 minutes of the game but from that point on their effort, desire and will kept snowballing." Chicago led comfortably throughout the final 12 minutes. Antoine Walker had 22 points to pace Miami (52-28), which will be the second seed in the East and could face Chicago in the first round. "I'm just trying to get some consistent play and get better and better for the playoffs," Walker said. "I'm feeling good about myself. I'm playing aggressively and I'm ready to go." Heat All-Star guard Dwyane Wade scored eight points in the first quarter but was blanked thereafter, spending much of the second half on the bench. "The key is being healthy and not worrying about the individual stuff," said Wade, who shot just 2-of-12 and failed to reach double figures in scoring for the first time this season. "I had some good shots but I just missed them. The playoffs will be a whole different story. We'll be ready." Riley, who left for upstate New York after the game to be with his ailing 96-year-old mother, felt it was important not to sway from the game plan. "I was very conscious of (players') minutes and in the end I was very conscious of health," said Riley, whose status for the Heat's last two regular-season games is uncertain. "Today is not a good barometer to judge us." </div> <div align="center">Recap l Box Score</div>
