Bulls' united front rules boards, Heat

Chicago's front line dominated the backboards and the bench contributed 28 points, 14 rebounds and two eye-popping dunks from Taj Gibson in the Bulls' 103-82 victory.
"You can count on their energy every night. They all bring something different," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of his bench.
Chicago held a 45-33 rebounding edge, 19-6 on the offensive glass, and recorded 31 second-chance points to neutralize the Heat's superstars.
"It deflated us," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of the second-chance points. "All of those tip-ins after 16 to 20 seconds of solid defense really took away some of our focus."
Joakim Noah had 14 rebounds, Carlos Boozer added nine and Luol Deng seven. Many led to easy points.
"Joakim finishing layups and dunking, Booz doing the same thing," said Rose, who finished with a team-high 28 points and no second-half turnovers after committing four in the first half.
Gibson said Rose addressed the team at halftime, when the score was 48-48, and said he'd step it up. "He talked about it. He blamed himself. … He stepped up and said, 'My bad, everybody, on the turnovers,' " Gibson said. "That's what leaders do."
Deng, in addition to his 21 points, seven boards, four steals and one block, was the principal defender in limiting LeBron James to 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting.
"It took a group effort, guys staying focused on the game plan," Deng said. "And he really had some shots he normally makes that he didn't make, so we're not going to take all the credit."
Boozer said, "Luol's our unsung hereo. … He's our iron man — he played over 40 minutes a night and locks up the other team's best player. … Joakim was a monster on the glass, of course, like normal."

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