Fans Still Optimistic After Bulls' Game 2 Loss
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After the decisive victory by the Bulls in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals earlier this week, most Bulls fans expected to see a much different version of Miami Wednesday night.
And they did. But the surprise came in the fact that those Bulls basically traded places with the Miami Heat, going from dominant to docile. The Bulls lost to the Heat 85-75, and the series is all square.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, Bulls fans were hoping for a little breathing room in the series, and losing at home was especially tough.
At the Hollywood Grill, at 1601 W. North Ave. in the Wicker Park neighborhood, they were replaying the game early Thursday morning. Thus, even customers who wanted to forget about the game can't really get away from it.
Still, fans at the diner seemed to trend toward optimism.
"I was very surprised – Derrick Rose drove to the basket a few times, but he was really just shut down, and I don't have an explanation for that," one man said. "I think that they'll overcome that. I think that that was probably a team effort, that maybe they open a lane that wasn't there for him, and I think they'll come back. Absolutely, they'll take it in five."
Another man said the Bulls' performance "could have been a little better than the first night. Rose was missing a little too many of them dunks."
Two young women were so bummed that they decided to eat some comfort food at the diner.
"We try to keep the hope up and everything, but I was quite let down," said Jasmine Bielecki.
"It's going all the way to Game 7. It's going to be neck-and-neck. The whole little series is going to be crazy," said Sandra Rivera. "Here's the thing – the Bulls didn't play as great as they did the first game, but the refs weren't helping much at all. A lot of the calls were really iffy, and we were really neck-and-neck, and we weren't even playing to our best ability, so if the refs had been more fair, we might have pulled it off."
Game 3 is set for Sunday night in Miami. The Bulls stay in Miami for Game 4 Tuesday night, and return to the United Center for Game 5.
