Many expected the Miami Heat to run roughshod over the NBA during the 2010-11 season. After assembling three of the league’s biggest superstars, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, on one team, they were immediately pegged as the odds-on favorites to win it all.
Unfortunately, things didn’t start swimmingly for the star-studded squad from South Beach, as they stumbled out of the games and sported a dismal 9-8 record early in the season. However, they eventually tuned out the noise that surrounded their much-criticized decision to join forces and went back to playing great basketball.
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By the time the playoffs arrived, the Heat were clicking on all cylinders and lost only twice in the first two rounds. However, they soon learned that getting to the NBA Finals wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, something the Chicago Bulls showed after they rocked them in Game 1, 103-82 in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Heat had to scratch and claw against the Bulls
Led by league MVP Derrick Rose, who was backed by a diverse yet united cast of players, the Bulls were raring to return to the glory days of Michael Jordan. With a stalwart defense and unrelenting determination, they smacked the Heat in the series opener, unmindful of the star power their opponents had.
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Wade immediately recognized the Bulls’ fearless approach and urged his teammates to be up to the challenge, not wilt under pressure.
“By the time we got to the playoffs and they smacked us in Game 1,” D-Wade recalled. “We had to settle in and understand, ‘OK, listen, these guys, they ain’t playing no games.'”
Stopping short of telling his teammates to start something, Wade implored the Heat to toughen up, get down and dirty, and do the little things that count — whether that was setting hard screens, pushing opponents off the block or just staying in front of Rose and his freakish speed.
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“The only way we’re going to beat them is if we get into a fight with them. And we had to get in there,” Wade continued. “I think they beat us by, like, 20-something on the rebounds in Game 1. And we came back and kind of controlled that and it changed the series.”
Tremendous defensive adjustments
The Bulls’ Game 1 win proved to be their only one in the series. While some pointed to the Bulls’ lack of playoff experience as the primary culprit for their loss, pundits and even the Bulls themselves cited James’ switch to guarding Rose as the turning point.
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“What got us in the end was, after we won Game 1 — and it’s the greatness of LeBron — defensively, in key situations,” John Paxson, the former Bulls’ sharpshooter who became their executive vice president, shared. “Because we were in those games, we had chances to win them, but they put LeBron on Derrick.”
“LeBron’s size and strength negated some of the things that Derrick could do at the end of games that would have helped us win. My memory tells me that that was the key in that series,” he added.
The numbers confirmed Paxson’s assertion. In Game 1, Rose had 28 points. However, in Games 2 to 5, he averaged only 22.3 points and shot a horrendous 32 percent from the field.
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Ultimately, Wade believes his team simply had more firepower than the Bulls that season. Regardless of how much chemistry the Bulls had, they couldn’t go blow-for-blow with a team with three All-Stars and a savvy supporting cast.
“I think, ultimately for us, we just had a little bit more talent. And even though we beat them in five, it wasn’t that easy. They definitely made us work for it,” Wade concluded.
Although history shows the Heat won the 2011 Eastern Conference finals in just five games, Wade emphasized that winning every game was by no means easy. Typical of the city they represented, the Bulls fought hard and showed resilience throughout the series. It’s just that the Heat’s sheer collection of talent was too much to overcome.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.