Bulls try to even set with Heat at United Center

Game 5 of this set is scheduled for Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The second-seeded Heat won Games 1 and 2 on their homecourt. In Game 3, Kirk Hinrich scored 22 points and dished out 11 assists to lead the seventh-seeded Bulls over Miami, 109-90, on Thursday at the United Center.

Ben Gordon had a team-high 24 points in Game 3s win for Chicago, which is 8-0 all-time in the playoffs at home versus Miami. Luol Deng contributed 21 points and eight boards for Chicago, while Andres Nocioni netted 19 and pulled down nine rebounds.

Dwyane Wade finished with 26 points for the in the loss for the Heat. Shaquille O’Neal ended with just eight points and seven turnovers in under 25 minutes of action.

Alonzo Mourning, who hadn’t played in a game since March 22nd due to a torn right calf muscle, returned to the lineup on Thursday for the Heat and did not score in eight minutes of court time.

The Heat will be without swingman James Posey today. Posey was suspended for one game for knocking Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich to the floor during the fourth quarter of Game 3.

Miami has never lost a playoff series when it won the first two contests.

Chicago came back from being down two games to none to defeat the New York Knicks in six games in the 1993 conference finals.

The Heat, who have dropped three straight road games in the postseason, have won three of their last four Game 4s in the playoffs, while Chicago, which was eliminated in six games by Washington in the first round of last year’s postseason, has lost two of their last three Game 4s.

These two clubs have some playoff history. Chicago swept the Heat, 3-0, in the first round of the 1992 and 1996 playoffs. The Bulls also beat the Heat in five games, 4-1, during the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals.

Miami was 21-20 on the road during the regular season, while the Bulls were 21-20 at the United Center.