weve got the underdog mentality

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CHICAGO -- The way everything was crumbling, the Chicago Bulls sure needed a reprieve. Knocking off the defending champions was a nice one. Carlos Boozer scored 27 points, and the Bulls pounded LeBron James and the Miami Heat 107-87 on Thursday night. Luol Deng had 20 points, Taj Gibson chipped in with 19, and Joakim Noah added 17 points and 15 rebounds as the Bulls had no trouble taking out the Southeast Division leaders. Chicago took control early on and hung on down the stretch after watching a 25-point lead in the third quarter dwindle to 12 late in the game. It was an impressive showing by a team that had dropped six of seven and is once again trying to get by without the injured Derrick Rose. "Our team needed it," Noah said. "We went through a lot the past couple of weeks. Its really hard to play without Derrick. I want to win with Derrick Rose." The Bulls shot 50 per cent and were 10 for 19 on 3-pointers -- four by Deng and three by Kirk Hinrich, who scored 13. They also outrebounded Miami 49-27. James scored 21 points for Miami, but the Heat shot a season low for the second straight game, converting 41.6 per cent from the field after hitting 43.9 per cent in Tuesdays loss to Detroit. "We cant just brush this loss aside," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We have to really own it, to understand what happened. They just got whatever they wanted, right in the paint, at the rim and if they missed those, then theyre just beating us up at the glass." It didnt help that Dwyane Wade stayed back at the hotel with an illness after sitting out the previous game because of knee soreness. Chris Andersen missed this one for personal reasons, but the Heat will get no sympathy from Chicago. After all, the Bulls lost Rose to a torn meniscus in his right knee in a game at Portland on Nov. 22, and although the former MVP left the door slightly open for a playoff return earlier in the day, the team has ruled him out for the rest of the season. "We really got snake-bitten," Gibson said. "When that happened to Derrick, that was really like, Wow. Were a family in here. When that stuff kind of happens, it was just ... tough. We were on the road, odds were against us." And as if that six-game trip wasnt difficult enough, there was a triple-overtime loss to New Orleans on Monday in their first game back at the United Center. The Bulls did just fine on Thursday, although things got a little tight down the stretch. Miami cut it to 93-81 on Norris Coles runner with 5:38 remaining. But Gibson answered with a jumper and blocked a layup by Udonis Haslem. Deng made a 3 with just under four minutes left to make it 98-81, and Chicago hung on from there. Before that, the only tension came early in the third quarter when Hinrich took a shot to the neck from Cole away from the ball. The result was an angry exchange, a flagrant foul one for Cole and a technical for Hinrich. The Bulls guard hit both free throws after James missed a foul shot, making it 67-45. Boozer led a scorching start by Chicago, scoring 19 points as the Bulls built a 58-44 halftime lead. But in the end, it was the Bulls rebounding and defence that had the Heat shaking their heads. "Weve never been a great rebounding team but weve been able to overcome that," James said. "Teams have done a much better job of rebounding against us. It could be an effort thing, it could be a lot of things but we just got to go out and just go get them. "Im going to do a better job of that, get more rebounds. But its a group thing for a team. We dont have a Kevin Love or Joakim Noah or Dwight Howard, those types of guys who can get you 15-plus, we have to do it as a collective group." NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game to honour Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at the age of 95. ... This was the Bulls most lopsided win over the Heat since a 126-96 blowout at Miami on Jan. 16, 2008. ... Andersen expected to rejoin Miami on Friday in Minnesota. The Heat play the Timberwolves on Saturday. Air Force 1 Red Cheap . - Young and old. Air Force 1 Discount . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area. http://www.airforce1storesale.com/fake-air-force-1-yellow-outlet.html . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract. Air Force 1 Wholesale . - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night. Air Force 1 Yellow Store . Just ask last seasons Supporters Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls, who were resoundingly defeated last weekend by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps in a match which produced two contenders for MLS Goal of the Week from Sebastian Fernandez and Pedro Morales.TORONTO -- In the moments before the Toronto Raptors took the court for Game 4 in Brooklyn, they huddled in the locker-room and watched footage of their fans gathered back home in Maple Leaf Square. The Raptors went on to win Game 4 and even up the series and say theyve drawn inspiration from the swell of support theyre receiving in their home city. "I told the team, the fans are doing their part, weve got to do our part as a team, as a group of guys to lead the fight on the court, because the fans are behind us 100 per cent and theyre loud and theyre very proud. And they should be," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. The Raptors expect a repeat of Sunday, when a capacity crowd of 2,500 red-clad fans jammed Maple Leaf Square to watch the game on the giant screen outside the Air Canada Centre. Thousands more packed the roads leading up to the ACC in a raucous outdoor celebration similar to the citys playoff party during the Maple Leafs brief run last year. "Oh man, its unbelievable, our fan base," Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said. "It makes you want to just be a part of it. Things that were doing right now and the way the fan base is going out there, we want to go out there and play hard and give them a reason to keep coming back and packing Maple Leaf Square and packing the ACC. "We need our fans, we love our fans. . . We cant wait to see (Wednesday) night, the vibe and the energy were going to get." The series has been a spirited battle even before the first ball was tossed up, thanks to general manager Masai Ujiris now-famous F-bomb. Its been a fierce fight on the court. Casey said Kyle Lowry looked like hed been through a 15-round bout after Game 4, and the coach expects both teams to come out swinging in Game 5 on Wednesday. "Its not going to be all smiles and bubble gum and fruitcakes. . . Its going to be a street fight," Casey said. "Thats the way weve got to come out, with that mentality." The Raptors, said Lowry, were caught on their heels Game 1 of the series. The less-experienced Raptors -- three of the teams starters had never made a playoff appearance -- werent prepared for how physical post-season action would be. They lost that game. They put up a fight in Sundays Game 4 victory in Brooklyn, holding the Nets to just three baskets in a scrappy fourth quarter. But they were forced to battle back from a lackadaisical third quarter, a bad habit the Raptors havent been able to shake all season long.dddddddddddd "Weve got to compete like that for 40-plus (minutes)," Casey said. "The third quarter has been our nemesis. . . thats what we have to remedy, coming out of the locker-room at halftime with that desperate disposition." Despite being the No. 3 seed, the Raptors were considered underdogs in this series based on playoff experience. DeMar DeRozan said theyve played with a chip on their collective shoulder with that underdog mentality all season, so this is nothing new. "We understood coming into this series that people still counted us out, people still doubted us, people said: Brooklyns experience, this, that and the third. . . whatever you want to hear," said DeRozan, who struggled through playoff jitters in Game 1 but has shone for Toronto in the three games since. "Weve been counted out so long, weve got the underdog mentality. I dont think thats going anywhere." Playoff experience was a major theme when this best-of-seven series began. Future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- had played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. None of Torontos starters -- Lowry, DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas -- had ever started in a playoff game. DeRozan, Ross and Valanciunas had never played in the post-season, period. The Raptors say that four games in, experience doesnt mean much anymore. "Its just who wants it more from here on out. Thats what it boils down to now," DeRozan said. Added Casey: "I dont think were as wide-eyed and bushy-tailed as we were in Game 1." Ross remains the one Raptor struggling with the playing on the big stage of the post-season. The athletic sophomore, who poured in 51 points in a game earlier this season, scored zero in Game 4. Casey and the players remain fiercely supportive of the 21-year-old. "Im not going to do anything to crush that young mans confidence or what hes brought to the table thus far," said Casey, pointing out that Ross has done some good things on the defensive end. "And its not about Terrence Ross, its about our entire team," the coach added. "The spotlight should not be on him in any way whatsoever. The reason why we win or lose is not because of what Terrence Ross did or didnt do." ' ' '