KICKS ON THE COURT: Bulls vs. Heat Eastern Conference Finals: Game 1

Dwayne Wade's Jordan Fly Wade

CHICAGO – The unfolding of the past several days had played out perfectly for a hoarse coach desperate to find a second wind and second act for these Chicago Bulls. They had the NBA’s coach of the year, executive of the year and Most Valuable Player. They had the best record in the NBA, an unbeaten regular season over the Miami Heat, and somehow still Tom Thibodeau had done what should’ve been unthinkable: repackaged and resold his Bulls as the underdogs, the ne’er-do-wells, the formalities on LeBron James’ and Dwyane Wade’s march to immortality.

Derrick Rose scored 28 points and Luol Deng contained LeBron James as the Chicago Bulls struck first in the Eastern Conference finals, pulling away to beat the Miami Heat 103-82 in Game 1 on Sunday.

Derrick Rose wearing the adidas adiZero Rose 1.5

Derrick Rose wearing the adidas adiZero Rose 1.5

The Big Two Lebron and Dwayne

Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer in the paint

Corey Brewer Dunks on Chris Bosh

LeBron James shooting in the Nike LeBron 8 PS

Dwyane Wade in the Jordan Fly Wade and Joakim Noah in Li Ning's

Dwayne Wade in Jordan Fly Wade

Taj Gibson in the Nike Air Max Fly By

Corey Brewer and Dwayne Wade in Jordan Fly Wade fight for the ball

Mike Bibby handling the rock in a new Jordan 3 Percent inspired model

Omer Asik Dunks and gets the foul

Taj Gibson power dunks over Dwayne Wade