I called this, sadly.
I was telling my brother the night before game 1, that I was worried about this matchup.
I know the Bulls seem short on talent, and I know they have been all over the place this season, but they have a number of veteran guys on that roster that play with a lot of heart, and you can never underestimate the power of heart.
Love him or hate him, Wade is a winner. It was he (not Lebron) who was the true spiritual leader of those first couple of Miami teams. It was he (not Shaq) he was the key behind Miaami's first title. He's always been a bit time player who plays to win.
Rondo, in all his years as a Celtic, was always known as the guy who doesn't care in the regular season, but takes his game to another level come playoff time. He's a guy who wants to win, and he killed is today.
Butler is a bit of an unknown as a winner and leader, but he's a hell of a player who can score, rebound and pass at a very high level for his position.
Lopez is a tough guy who plays hard physical ball - much like Perkins was for us. He's not hugely talented but hes a big body who's not afraid to band and pound around - he plays with a lot of heart, and he's a very big dude - something we don't have any of.
All of that made me seriously concerned - if Boston doesn't play with everything they've got, and play Smart, then a Veteran team, like these Bulls, is going to take advantage of that every opportunity they get.