CHICAGO — Play harder. Play smarter. Rebound more. Loiter less. Be big. Be aggressive. Be the ball.
OK, so maybe not that last one. But all those others tips, insights and bits of wisdom for how the Miami Heat should approach Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals figure to be on display Wednesday night at the United Center. If it were up to the Heat — desperate not to fall into a 2-0 hole, yet confident about needing only a split of these first two games in Chicago to calm down everyone except the Bulls — they would do everything better and bigger and smarter and harder than they did in the 103-82 opening loss Sunday.
What is more likely will come down to, though, is a playoff credo that no team is better equipped to heed than Miami: Stars gotta play like stars.
If the stars play like stars, the Bulls are in trouble because Miami has more of them. In Game 1, only Chris Bosh lived up to the reputation, scoring 30 points, grabbing nine rebounds, getting to the foul line consistently and putting pressure on Chicago’s defense both inside and out.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade seemed to confuse the idea of playing as one with playing like one. Combined — 33 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, 8-of-8 from the line — the two did what one of them can do alone, most nights and especially in big games more