Heat Survive Blood Feud With Bulls 97-93 Behind James' 35

"Playoffs in January?

About as close as you're going to get in the NBA.

On a day the NFL and NHL offered gloried exhibitions of All-Star triteness, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls offered true grit Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"For a regular-season game, that's probably as intense as you'll find," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "It had intensity, to say the least."

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Playoffs in January?

You bet, all the way to the finish of a 97-93 Heat victory that sent a message from both sides to the rest of the Eastern Conference that there is us and then everybody else.

"In many regards," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, "it was a typical Miami-Chicago basketball game.""

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