The Chicago Bulls pulled out an impressive 96-86 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday thanks to an absolutely dominating effort in overtime. The two teams ended regulation in a 84-84 tie after four tightly contested quarters, but Chicago rocked Miami, 12-2, en route to victory.
It took a while for the Bulls' offense to get things going on Thursday, but the bench was huge on a night when Derrick Rose simply didn't have his best stuff. After sitting out a game with the ankle injury, Rose scored just two points on 1-of-13 shooting, one of his worst outings in a long time.
Rose's teammates had his back, though, with the bench trio of C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver and Taj Gibson playing huge roles. Watson's game-tying three-point shot with two seconds left put the game into overtime, three of 16 points he scored. Korver was 5-of-6 from three-point range, finishing the game with 17 points. And Gibson added 11 points and five rebounds in another solid effort.
With Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng putting in their usual work, it was enough for the Bulls given another great defensive effort. LeBron James led Miami with 30 points plus both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had over 20 points apiece, but no other Miami player scored more than four points.
For more on this game, stay with SB Nation Chicago. For more on the Bulls, visit Blog a Bull. For news, notes and analysis from around the league, check out SB Nation's NBA news hub.