Shane Battier News

The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks Saturday night 106-99 to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was an hour or so after the Miami Heat punched their ticket back to the Eastern Conference finals, and a question was asked about the perceived demise of Dwyane Wade's abilities.

LeBron James scored 23 points, Dwyane Wade added 18 and the Heat rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 94-91 on Wednesday night and close out their second-round series in five games.

Dwyane Wade is limping around in obvious pain. LeBron James' shooting percentage is down.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has an usual method for trying to relieve the pain in his bruised knee.

May 13, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Miami Heat point guard Norris Cole , small forward Shane Battier steal the ball from Chicago Bulls point guard Nate Robinson during the second quarter at the United Center.

When the hard shove came from Nazr Mohammed , it was like the shoe flying at President George W. Bush years ago.

When the hard shove came from Nazr Mohammed , it was like the shoe flying at President George W. Bush years ago.

Q: Do teams like the Chicago Bulls engage in this immature behavior because there are so many expectations of them, given they are playing for a franchise that traditionally had success? They obviously came to this series looking for more of a street fight than a basketball game because they know they're clearly outmatched in basketball.

The Chicago Bulls held LeBron James in check for much of the game, and Dwyane Wade only attempted seven shots.

Just 49 seconds after the opening tip, he hit a baby hook. He would go on to hit five of his first six shots, scoring 10 of the Bulls' first 14 points.

A picture of what you may call a very passionate Heat fan at Wednesday night's playoff game has gone viral.

In a game plagued by technicals and hard fouls, Miami responded to its Game 1 loss by handing Chicago its worst playoff loss ever.

The Miami Heat got beat down on their home floor in Game 1 of their second-round series with the Chicago Bulls , and their performance highlighted their two biggest areas for improvement moving forward.

The Chicago Bulls managed to come out and shock the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Playoffs in the second-round. A depleted Bulls lineup grinded the game out and delivered a cold shower that still has the champions shivering.

Post-sweep rust may be a legitimate problem. The Miami Heat lost to an extremely shorthanded Chicago Bulls team.

If needed, there's plenty of things Miami and Chicago could use as extra motivation before meeting in a playoff series, like how the Heat rolled to a win when they met in the Eastern Conference finals two years ago or how the Bulls snapped the reigning champions' 27-game winning streak down the stretch of this regular season.

This is as redundant as it is obvious: LeBron James is the most valuable basketball player running and jumping and dribbling atop this globe.

The Miami Heat's return to the NBA Finals has been seen as an inevitability since the playoffs began.

Chris Andersen says his neck tattoo alone took three full-day sessions. What do you do in that time? 'You just let them do it and think about basketball.' David Santiago / El Nuevo Herald Rashard Lewis.