DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Derrick Rose saw the talent, saw the attitude and saw no reason why this couldnt be a special season for the Chicago Bulls. Well, 62 wins and two playoff series victories later, its still going strong. The Bulls knocked off Atlanta on Thursday and now comes their toughest test: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. "We know that we have something special in front of us," Rose said. Not since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were wrapping up their second championship three-peat in 1998 have the Bulls advanced this far. Not that its been easy, though. Indiana put up a fight in the first round, before bowing out in five games. So did Atlanta, before the Bulls beat them 93-73 in Game 6 of the conference semifinals on Thursday. "This is playoff basketball," coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday. "Games are always going to be tough. Theyre going to be tight games. You have to be able to rely on your habits, the things youve been doing all season long." What they did during the regular season worked quite well. The Bulls won more regular-season games than any other team, locking up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs after a massive roster overhaul that came on the heels of back-to-back 41-win seasons and first-round playoff exits. The moves that sparked the turnaround are well-documented, from the firing of Vinny Del Negro and hiring of Thibodeau -- the Coach of the Year -- to the execution of their backup plan after James, Wade and Chris Bosh wound up together in Miami. The Bulls instead got power forward Carlos Boozer and a cast of role players that gave them one of the leagues deepest rotations. Of course, it helped that a certain point guard from the citys South Side continued his rapid rise. Right from the start, Rose wondered why he couldnt be the MVP. It turned out there was no reason why. Now, the question is: Can he and the Bulls beat the Heat? "They have great players on their team," Rose said. "Great passers. They have great shooters on their team." The Bulls boast the youngest MVP in Rose, who at age 22 delivered one of the best all-around seasons by a point guard and became the only Chicago player not named Jordan to win the award. He averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists, making him the only player this season to rank among the top 10 in both categories. The playoffs havent been as easy. He struggled at times against Indianas double teams in the opening round. His shooting is down from 44.5 per cent to 40 per cent in the post-season, too. Even so, hes still averaging 28.8 points and 8.2 assists. "Weve been a team all season," Boozer said. "It hasnt been a one-man show. But our one mans pretty good!" Boozer wasnt bad, either, in the clinching Game 6 win against Atlanta and that was a good sign for the Bulls. He scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out five assists in what was easily his best performance of the post-season after being limited by a turf toe injury on his right foot. If he keeps that up, hell be hearing more "Booz!" than boos from fans who had been making it clear they werent pleased. "Offensively you could see he got his bounce back," Thibodeau said. To Luol Deng, that was no surprise. "Carlos was in here working," he said. "His toe bothered him a little bit. He stuck with it. We just knew it was a matter of time. He just came really at the right time, and hopefully, he carries it on." Boozer, meanwhile, said the Bulls havent peaked. Now would be a good time, with James, Wade and Bosh staring at them. The Bulls met with all three during the free-agent frenzy last summer, hoping theyd land two to form a superstar trio with Rose. Instead, the chase for the championship has them colliding head on. For what its worth, Chicago swept all three regular-season games, although James missed one because of a sprained ankle. "Its going to be fun," Rose said. "Were definitely happy to be there. I think Thibs is going to have a great game plan for us." R... Bodine Authentic Jersey . This is not some token job for a prominent, popular former player. All of those areas need a lot of work, so Molitor is going to be busy. "Hes certainly got a history and knowledge and a high baseball IQ," general manager Terry Ryan said. An... Munoz Jersey . Organizers of the Swiss Indoors announced their star attractions for the Oct. 19-27 event in Basel. The field is headed by five-time champion Federer, Nadal and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro. htt... . Seven straight wins to get into the playoffs under midseason replacement Bruce Boudreau in 2008. Winning eight of 10 last year under Dale Hunter after Boudreau was fired. 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Greece tied the game at 65-65 on Antonios Fotsis 3-pointer with 1:50 left but Lithuanias Darius Songaila made it a four-point game again, before Nick Calathes sank a three-pointer. Songaila responded by making two free throws, while Calathes made only one on the next Greek possession and had the ball stripped away by Songaila after Kalnietis two free throws. Calathes finished with 16 points, seven assists, three steals and five turnovers. Martinas Pocius led six Lithuanian players in double figures with 13 points.dddddddddddd Fotsis had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Greece. Earlier Saturday, Goran Dragic scored 21 points to lead Slovenia to a 72-68 win over Serbia in the match for seventh place. That match meant even less since both teams had missed the Olympic qualifying tournament. Slovenia went on a 14-0 run to end the first and start the second quarter, only to see Serbia catch up with its own 15-0 run in the fourth. Serbia even took the lead on Nemanja Bjelicas basket with 2:05 left, but Jaka Lakovic hit a 3-pointer for Slovenia and Erazem Lorbek sank a jumper to put the game away. Lakovic made five of six three-point attempts to end with 15 points and help Slovenia go 13-of-27 from long range. Kosta Perovic had 13 for Serbia and Bjelica added 12. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '