by Micah Hart

Each day until the end of the NBA Finals, we’ll be taking a look at the conventional wisdom of the moment — which team is currently the favorite to win it all, and which team should be ashamed to still be putting on its jerseys.

Here’s how it looks on the morning of Monday, May 16.

Start planning the parade:

Chicago Bulls

Pretty impressive show by the Bulls last night in Game 1. Derrick Rose continues to show why he’s the league’s MVP, getting into the lane at his choosing, and hitting several shots from the perimeter to boot. Honestly, if Rose is hitting 3-pointers, you might as well just hand the trophy to Chicago now and save the other teams the embarrassment, because he is literally unguardable when his jump shot is falling.

Here’s a question for you: Who has been the breakout young talent of these playoffs? You could say Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, or OKC’s James Harden, or perhaps Dallas’s J.J. Barea, but you’d be wrong. The answer is Chicago’s Taj Gibson, who, much like Nuke LaLoosh, announced his presence with authority last night:

The Bulls shot the ball exceptionally well last night, and that in and of itself is perhaps a little fluky, but the defensive effort (holding Miami to 82 points in 83 possession) and the offensive rebounding numbers (19 boards, leading to 31 second-chance points) are not. Those are huge advantages Chicago holds in this series, and they will carry them to a surprisingly easy series win and onto the NBA Finals.

Give it up already:

Miami Heat

The problem the Heat have, and there is really no way to avoid it, is that they are playing three-on-five in the best of situations in this series. And that’s when their starters are on the court. What about when they need a rest?

The Heat are quality-not-quantity, and matched up against the Bulls, who had the NBA’s best bench during the regular season, they are going to be in trouble any time any of the Super Friends is off the court.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all pretty much need to play 48 minutes every night for the Heat to even have a prayer against the Bulls. And even that probably isn’t enough.

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