From February 3 to March 26, 2013, the Heat of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade And chris bosh rolls on the league. Before challenging, on March 27, Bulls diminished by the absence of Joakim Noah, their best player, Miami chained… 27 victories in a row! Quite simply the second longest streak in history, behind the Lakers’ untouchable 33 straight streaks in 1971/72…
Erik Spoelstra’s men aren’t always brilliant in the game, but they show remarkable defensive posture and power. Even mistreated, the Florida formation always finds resources, well helped by all the talent of its trio of shock.
But against a team of Chicago Solidly coached by Tom Thibodeau, Miami was dominated in the first half. There is ignition delay, lost balloons and little rhythm. Fortunately, LeBron James (32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks) holds the house in the first quarter.
“The Heat will have made history for 27 games, Chicago will have made history for 48 minutes. »
Then in the second half, supported by Dwyane Wade (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) and Chris Bosh (21 points, 4 blocks), the “King” gains momentum and the Bulls no longer manage to display their level of play from first act. However, like Luol Deng (28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists), Carlos Boozer (21 points, 17 rebounds) or Jimmy Butler (17 points), they remain terribly combative.
At the end of the game, LeBron James begins to get annoyed with the physical intensity of the Illinois players and the Heat cannot make the difference in the final minutes, as was so often the case during this enchanted parenthesis of 27 rank wins. At the end of the effort, Chicago wins 101-97 and, as we wrote in our summary at the time, “the Heat will have made history for 27 games, Chicago will have made it for 48 minutes”.
“We will probably understand all of this better and later in our careers”will note Erik Spoelstra after this defeat. “It’s one of the best series in history, we know that”will add LeBron James. “We haven’t had a moment to understand what we’ve achieved yet. We were blessed to be part of this team and such a series. »
A team that would finish as champions that year and, since then, only the Warriors have come close to this series, with “only” 24 consecutive successes at the start of the 2015/16 season…
