Miami evens East Finals, 1-1

Chicago— Right from the start, LeBron James made it clear he was going to attack and no one was going to stop him.
Point taken.

James came up big down the stretch with nine of his 29 points in the final 4:27, Dwyane Wade added 24 and the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls, 85-75 yesterday to tie the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

“It was a big game,” James said. “We felt like it was a must win for us going back home.”

The Heat can breathe a little easier after escaping with a win and stealing home-court advantage. Coming off a lopsided loss in Game 1, they recovered down the stretch after blowing an 11-point lead to pull even in the series.

Game 3 is set on Sunday (Monday in Manila) in Miami.

James shook off a brutal opener and scored nine points over the final 4:27, starting with a 3-pointer that put Miami ahead for good, 76-73. He also had 10 rebounds, and Miami outrebounded the Bulls 45-41 after getting pounded 45-33 on the glass in the opener.
“That fourth quarter is going to epitomize this entire series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s an absolute street fight for both teams.”
It was big turnaround after he managed just 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting while being harassed by Luol Deng in Game 1.

“We got that one that we needed,” Wade said. “Now, we go home and we’ve got to take care of business.”

Wade also looked more like a superstar after scoring 18 on Sunday. Udonis Haslem provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, and the Heat beat the Bulls for the first time this season even though Chris Bosh scored just 10 after pouring in 30 in the opener.

Derrick Rose led Chicago with 21 points but scored just two in the fourth quarter. Deng, the only other Bulls player in double figures, added 13 but had just four after the opening period.

Joakim Noah had nine points but only eight rebounds. Taj Gibson provided a spark in the fourth quarter, scoring all of his eight points. Carlos Boozer, however, was a non-factor with seven points and eight rebounds.

The Bulls missed countless layups and got outshot 47.1 percent to 34.1 percent. They were just 3 of 20 on 3-pointers and 16 of 26 at the foul line while getting beat on the glass. /ap