NBA: Heat forge semis series tie at 1-1 after demolishing Bulls

Don't make them angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry.

The Miami Heat took out their frustrations of losing game one of their best-of-seven semifinals series by blowing out the visiting Chicago Bulls, 115-78, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at the American Airlines Arena in Florida to forge a 1-1 tie.

Heat blow out Bulls in Game 2, 115-78.Largest margin of victory in Heat playoff history and worst loss in Bulls' playoff history.

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 9, 2013

The final score was the largest margin of victory by a Miami team in the playoffs, and similarly, the worst playoffs loss by Chicago.

[Related: Nate Robinson fuels Chicago Bulls upset of Miami Heat]

The Bulls had ambushed a well-rested Miami team 93-86 last Monday (Tuesday, PHL time), but the home team found their swagger and had the game all but wrapped up halfway through the third period.

Chicago led early, 8-6, following a triple by Marco Belinelli at the 9:21 mark of the first quarter, but MVP LeBron James scored six of his side's last eight points, to put them on top 25-20 after the initial 12 minutes.

Miami began to pull away in the second, going on a 6-0 run over three minutes to establish a 10-point lead, 38-28. Nate Robinson and Carlos Boozer sliced that in half, 40-35, but back-to-back treys from reserve guard Norris Cole ended the first half by putting the Heat on top 55-41.

The third quarter saw the Heat pull away for good, as the defending NBA champions held the Bulls to just six points in the initial eight minutes. On their end, Miami exploded for 20 markers, 15 coming from Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, for a 75-47 tally. Twin hits by Taj Gibson ended Chicago's dry spell, but the Heat's reserves began the mop-up process, with Allen and Chris Andersen accounting for Miami's last eight and an 85-56 score with a quarter left.

The situation worsened for the Bulls at the start of the final canto, with 12 unanswered from Miami, 97-56. In the process, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson drew ejections for accumulating two technical fouls each, forcing them into the locker room early.

The Heat's lead hit 46 points, 104-58, after an and-one play by Andersen, 104-58, 8:28 left, and the third-stringers of both sides wrapped this one up.

Ray Allen top-scored for the Heat with 21 points. LeBron James only saw 32 minutes of action, but put up 19 points, five rebounds, nine assists and three steals, while Norris Cole chimed in with 18 markers, going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively, and combined for eight rebounds and eight assists.

Marco Belinelli led the Bulls with 13 points on 13 shot attempts, and six assists, Joakim Noah had 12 points and six rebounds, while game one hero Nate Robinson was held to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting, plus four turnovers.

Miami finished shooting 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from downtown. They also held their foes to a 35.5 percent shooting clip. The Heat also clobbered their foes on the boards, 41-28, and on assists, 29-17. - AMD, GMA News