Against one of the league’s toughest defenses, the Miami Heat are steeping up in grand fashion.

With their Game 4 victory, the Big Three have helped the Heat do something that hasn’t been done all season long: they’ve made the Chicago Bulls losers of three straight games.

Aside from the landslide Chicago win in Game 1, each of the games has been decided late in the final quarter. In a series that – on paper – would have forecasted to be tight, many would have predicted that Miami would be troubled late in ball games. While it’s a fact that the Heat have experienced struggles in close out situations, it’s also clear that the Bulls have an even bigger handicap under identical circumstances.

Frankly, NBA MVP Derrick Rose is not getting the job done in crunch time. And really, who would have expected him to? Despite the summer addition of Carlos Boozer, Chicago has clearly shown us that they are a one-man show.  What they lack is a skilled wingman, who can take some of the pressure off of Rose.  Miami, who, by the way, aren’t the defensive slouches that many would have assumed them to be, has the luxury of slowing down the Memphis alum with multiple players. Rose has gotten covered defensively by Mario Chalmers, Mike Bibby, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James – each of whom contain different attributes of speed, athleticism, strength and quickness. Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra has fed Rose a steady diet of mixed defenders, but he deftly saved the most physically gifted of the bunch – LeBron James – for those key, end-of-game possessions.

Wade came up with a huge block on a Derrick Rose layup attempt late in Game 4.

James combines the characteristics of great foot speed, quickness, strength, and leaping ability that can shut down just about any offensive player. As poorly as the Bulls played in the fourth, they still had two opportunities to take the lead within the last minute of regulation. On the first possession, James absorbed a double step-back move, which would have lost the average defender, and managed to effectively challenge the shot enough to cause Rose to be off target. During the final possession in regulation, James forced Rose to his right (a side from which he doesn’t comfortably execute his pull-up jumper). Rose attempted to dart past him, but had to step back a fire a highly contested shot that had absolutely no chance of going in.

As one could foreshadow, the extra session belonged to Miami. The Heat simply have more scoring options, and their defensive intensity is matching that of Chicago. D-Rose has not been efficient at all in this series. He’s shooting 33-91 (36%) from the floor, including 5-22 (23%) from three-point range. That’s not going to get it done. In the bigger picture, his ineffectiveness enables the Heat to recover and not give up wide-open perimeter looks.

Miami was heavily criticized for its inability to work effectively in clutch positions. Now, isn’t it time that Rose and Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau start to take some of that heat? It seems that little, if any, adjustments have been made that would allow the Bulls to be successful. It’s clear to see that Thibodeau is between a rock and a hard place – he only has one player who can create off the dribble.  But Rose still remains a shaky shooter.  Thibodeau has one slasher (Luol Deng), no post-up players and one pure shooter (Kyle Korver) who is a major defensive liability.

Chicago’s grit has clearly determined the style of this series.  Points are hard to come by, but Miami’s edge is clear.  This series – along with its Western Conference counterpart – prove that the most crucial games are won and lost based on matchups.  Dirk Notwizki is indefensible, and he’s giving the Thunder fits late in their contests.  But Chicago’s problem is that Derrick Rose has been defensible in this series, and nothing else is opening up for them.  When the Bulls attempt to apply extra pressure on Wade or James, it’s like sending Chris Bosh to Ryan’s.  The five-time All-Star picks out everything that he wants, sits down, devours it, and doesn’t even tip the waitress.  Bosh’s 96 points in the series (on 35-55 shooting) are 4 more more than Rose, and he only trails LeBron (101 on 34-75 shooting).  That means Miami’s top scorers are outscoring Chicago’s top scorer by taking fewer shots at the hoop.

Fortunately, for the Bulls, they’ll be back on their home floor for Game 5.

Unfortunately, they still won’t have anyone who can truly relieve the burden on the league’s MVP.

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