Bulls Vs. Heat: Derrick Rose Misses Doom Chicago In Final Seconds

The Chicago Bulls aren't used to seeing Derrick Rose come up empty in the fourth quarter, but that he did as the club fell to the Miami Heat 97-93 in South Beach on Sunday. The Bulls trailed by one as Rose had two free throws with 23 seconds left, but the reigning MVP missed them both. He missed a jumper with a chance to tie with less than five seconds left, allowing Chris Bosh to seal the Miami win from the line.

Rose had a big game overall, scoring 34 points with six assists and six rebounds, but shot just 11-28 from the floor and 0-4 on three-pointers. Rose took 14 free throws overall; the only two he missed were those in the final minute.

The game was remarkably even. The margin in each quarter was three points or fewer, and while Miami picked up a few brief double-digit leads and never trailed, it always seemed as if the game would come down a few possessions late, as it did.

LeBron James, who like Rose missed a pair of key free throws late, finished the game with 35 points on 12-23 shooting with 11 rebounds and five assists. Chris Bosh scored 24 points with 12 rebounds, thoroughly outplaying his counterpart Carlos Boozer (10 points, nine rebounds). Chicago was without Luol Deng, still nursing a torn ligament in his wrist.

In other action:

Cavaliers 88, Celtics 87: Kyrie Irving has the clutch unicorn. The rook hit a layup with less than three seconds left to lift surprising Cleveland over Boston on Sunday. The Cavs did well on the offensive and defensive glass and Alonzo Gee hit 8-9 free throws off the bench.

Pacers 106, Magic 85: Orlando continued its downward spiral, losing a third straight game, this one a blow-out at home. Dwight Howard shot just 4-15 from the line. It tied for the third-worst free throw shooting game in recorded NBA history for a player who took at least 15 attempts. Chris Dudley once went 1-18 (!) and Shaq has a 3-15 (to go with three 4-15 games) to his name. Danny Granger scored 24 points, and Darren Collison had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

Raptors 94, Nets 73: Life in the abysmal East is ... weird. The Nets had been heating up, but Toronto blew 'em out behind DeMar DeRozan's 27 points. Deron Williams had 24 in the loss.

Hawks 94, Hornets 72: Thank goodness all of the New Orleans fans listened to the NBA and bought those season tickets! Nothing like a 22-point home loss to get the blood pumping.