Miami, FL

Ray Allen scored 21 points and LeBron James added 19 as the Miami Heat regained their winning touch, crushing the Chicago Bulls, 115-78, for a 1-1 tie in their Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Allen went 5-for-7 from the field and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe while James added five rebounds, nine assists and three steals after promising to be more aggressive after a 93-86 loss in Game 1.

Four other players scored in double digits, with Norris Cole adding 18 points off the bench, Dwayne Wade 15, Chris Bosh 13 and Mario Chalmers 11 as the Heat shot 60 percent from the field.

The Heat completely dominated the game, outscoring the Bulls in the shaded lane, 56-18, and fastbreak, 20-2, to set a new postseason record for largest margin of victory, erasing a 35-point win over Orlando in 1997.

The Heat's 56-point output in the shaded area was their second most in any playoff game since the 1996-97 season.

Marco Belinelli scored 13 points and six assists, Joakim Noah had 12 points and six boards before he was ejected in the fourth after picking up his second technical foul while Nate Robinson had 11 for the Bulls, who shot just 35.5 percent from the field.

Vladimir Radmanovic and Jimmy Butler had nine points each while Taj Gibson had eight points before he was whistled for two technical fouls in the fourth.

The game was an intense one with referees calling nine technical fouls -- six on the Bulls -- and a flagrant foul on Heat reserve center Chris Andersen after a hard foul on Belinelli.

The Heat were just leading by 42-38 with three minutes remaining in the half before they went on a 13-3 blast, capped by back-to-back triples by Cole, to take a 55-41 lead at the break.

It was all Heat from there as they extended their lead to 46, 104-58, after a three-point play by Andersen.

 

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