Chicago 103, Miami 82: The Heat got 30 points from Chris Bosh, made all 15 of their free throws, and shot better from the field than the Bulls … and still got spanked by 21. What the hell happened? Chicago dominated the offensive glass (19-6), their bench – specifically dunking machine Taj Gibson – was enormous in the second half at both ends, and Derrick Rose took over in the pivotal third quarter.

The Heat led, 58-57 early in the third and then the Bulls went on a 10-0 run, which started with a Derrick Rose (10-for-22, 28 points) three-pointer. Rose had 10 points in the quarter. Miami couldn’t claw back, as the Bulls’ ferocious defense hounded D Wade (7-of-17) and LeBron (5-of-15) and even blocked their shots. Those two combined for a meager 11 points in the second half; remember, LeBron alone scored 10 in two minutes against Boston to close out that series.

Charles Barkley called Chicago the “best defensive team I’ve seen,” and if that’s the case, then Mike Bibby, Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller and James Jones had better show up, or the Heat won’t be able to win the series. But how can they get those guys on the court? Miami’s small lineup didn’t work – Chicago proceeded to dominate the glass; Joakim Noah had eight offensive rebounds – and my guess is we’ll see Dampier or Z in game two in an effort to nullify Chicago’s interior rebounding dominance. The Bulls’ bench was awesome: 28 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. That dwarfed the production from the Heat reserves (15 points 7 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks).

Ultimately, Taj Gibson stole the show. Some may recall Gibson from his days at USC – he shot 60 percent in 2008-2009 while a teammate of DeMar DeRozan; I’ll always remember Gibson’s final college game (who forgets NCAA tournament games?), which was a dud against Michigan State – but he established his presence in the NBA last night with two monster dunks, including a facial on D Wade. Said Wade: “It was a very athletic play, I knew I didn’t have a chance.” Gibson’s only a second-year player, but his versatility last night was terrific – he’d defend Bosh one minute, and LeBron the next.

Oklahoma City 105, Memphis 90: Everyone’s sweating Russell Westbrook’s triple double (14 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds) and Kevin Durant’s 39 points, but I thought it was Nick Collison’s terrific game off the bench containing Zach Randolph in the third quarter when the Thunder pulled away to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Collison tallied 8 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, but here’s the key stat: in 25 minutes defending Randolph, the Grizzlies’ best player was just 2-of-8 for 7 points. Randolph scored 10 points in 13 minutes against Serge Ibaka. But will the Collison-Ibaka tandem be able to contain Dirk Nowitzki in the next round?

Durant started slow in the first quarter, and then slaughtered the Grizzlies with backdoor cuts and found the touch from deep again (4-of-9 on three-pointers; that’s more than he made in the last three games, combined). Westbrook’s triple double was the first in an NBA game seven since Scottie Pippen pulled it off in 1992. That’s the beauty of Westbrook – he can give you 14 assists, or, if the scoring is needed, he can go off for 30 or 40 points.

I like the Thunder to beat the Mavericks. Yes, Dallas is rested (nine days between sweeping the Lakers and game one of the Western Conference finals). Yes, Dallas has home court advantage. Yes Dallas has the experience. But I think Collison/Ibaka can do a better job on Dirk than the Lakers did, I don’t think Jason Kidd can stay with Russell Westbrook the way he clung to Kobe, I believe James Harden will be as much of a factor coming off the bench as Jason Terry, and I don’t think the Matrix (33 years old) can hang with Kevin Durant (only 22) the way Tony Allen did. Thunder in six.