NBA playoffs: A romp for the Heat, who top Bulls 115-78

Miami • So much for that notion of the Miami Heat being in trouble.

Sure, they've lost home-court advantage in these Eastern Conference semifinals. But an absolute domination of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night made the reigning NBA champions look like the clear-cut team to beat in this title race once again.

Ray Allen scored 21 points in only 19 minutes, LeBron James finished with 19 points and nine assists, and the Heat led by as much as 46 points on the way to a 115-78 victory on Wednesday night in Game 2 of their series, now knotted at one game apiece.

It was the largest margin of victory in Heat postseason history, topping a 35-point win over Orlando on April 24, 1997.

Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were ejected in the fourth quarter for Chicago, and the league will almost certainly review some of the things said and done in a game that was close for the first 20 minutes before turning into an embarrassment for the Bulls and an embarrassment of riches for the Heat. The Bulls were called for six player technicals, the most by any team in a playoff game since Boston had that many against Indiana in 2005.

The Heat had three technicals assessed, a season-high for them.

Norris Cole scored 18 points for Miami, which got 15 from Dwyane Wade and 13 from Chris Bosh. The Heat led 42-38 with 3:42 left in the first half, before going on an absurd 62-20 run.

Yes, 62-20.

It was that one-sided. Miami shot 60 percent to Chicago's 36, outrebounded the Bulls 41-28, and enjoyed a huge 28-7 edge in points off turnovers.

The only stat that Chicago dominated: Technicals, where the Bulls outpaced Miami 6-3.

For much of the first half, it was everything one would expect from a Bulls-Heat game, especially after Chicago took Game 1 on Monday night. It was physical — Udonis Haslem sent Nate Robinson flying on the game's first possession, and Marco Belinelli hammered Wade on the ensuing Miami trip, one that ended with Wade getting the first of the game's nine technical fouls for throwing the ball into the Bulls' guard. —

Heat 115, Bulls 78

FG FT Reb

Chicago Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Butler 31:19 3-8 1-1 0-3 1 3 9

Boozer 23:43 3-9 2-2 1-4 1 3 8

Noah 31:47 3-7 6-6 2-6 2 3 12

Robinson 33:17 3-10 3-6 2-3 2 3 11

Belinelli 39:17 4-13 3-3 0-2 6 4 13

Gibson 14:04 4-6 0-0 2-3 0 1 8

Teague 14:43 0-3 0-0 0-0 3 1 0

Cook 22:47 0-6 0-0 0-2 1 5 0

Mhmmd 16:13 3-10 0-0 3-3 0 3 6

Radmnvc 10:13 3-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 9

Thomas 2:37 1-1 0-3 2-2 0 0 2

Totals 240:00 27-76 15-21 12-28 17 27 78

Percentages: FG .355, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Radmanovic 3-3, Butler 2-4, Belinelli 2-5, Robinson 2-5, Cook 0-6). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 19 (28 PTS). Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 17 (Robinson 4, Boozer 2, Butler 2, Cook 2, Noah 2, Belinelli, Gibson, Mohammed, Radmanovic, Teague). Steals: 8 (Radmanovic 2, Belinelli, Butler, Cook, Gibson, Mohammed, Noah). Technical Fouls: Noah, 0:11.6 first; Robinson, 8:35 second; Teague, 10:10 second; Gibson, 10:13 fourth; Noah, 10:13 fourth; Gibson, 10:13 fourth. Ejections: Gibson, 10:13 fourth; Noah, 10:13 fourth.

FG FT Reb

Miami Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

James 32:29 7-12 4-8 0-5 9 1 19

Haslem 15:56 1-1 0-0 1-4 1 2 2

Bosh 29:34 5-10 3-4 1-5 3 3 13

Chalmers 18:23 4-8 1-2 1-4 4 5 11

Wade 28:19 7-11 1-2 0-3 5 0 15

Battier 22:14 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 3

Allen 18:30 5-7 10-10 1-3 1 2 21

Cole 29:37 7-9 0-0 1-6 2 3 18

Andersen 9:54 2-2 3-3 1-2 0 3 7

Miller 10:13 1-2 0-0 1-2 2 1 2

Lewis 8:28 2-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 4

Jones 8:28 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 0 0

Anthony 7:55 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 2 0

Totals 240:00 42-70 22-29 8-41 29 24 115

Percentages: FG .600, FT .759. 3-Point Goals: 9-18, .500 (Cole 4-4, Chalmers 2-4, Allen 1-2, Battier 1-3, James 1-3, Bosh 0-1, Miller 0-1). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 17 (7 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Andersen 2, Allen, Bosh, Lewis). Turnovers: 17 (Cole 5, James 3, Anthony 2, Bosh 2, Chalmers, Jones, Lewis, Miller, Wade). Steals: 9 (James 3, Haslem 2, Allen, Anthony, Battier, Lewis). Technical Fouls: Wade, 11:39 first; James, 0:11.6 first; Chalmers, 2:39 third.

Flagrant Fouls: Andersen, 10:11 second.

Chicago 20 21 15 22 — 78

Miami 25 30 30 30 — 115

Attendance • 19,817. Time • 2:35.

Officials • Scott Foster, Rodney Mott, Sean Wright.