The Champs return to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The reigning NBA Champions Miami Heat pulled off the same feat they did in 2011 as they knocked off the fifth seeded Chicago Bulls in five games in the second round to advance to their third straight Eastern Conference Finals. After losing Game 1 at home, the responded by winning four straight games to book their ticket to the Conference Finals.

Photos ©NBA

The Bulls, coming off a seven game series in the first round against the Brooklyn Nets came in to the second round battered with a ton of injuries from Derrick Rose who has missed the entire season recovering from the torn ACL injury he suffered in last year's Playoffs, as well as players like Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich who are vital to the Bulls run in this year's playoffs. They were able to steal a game in Miami with an impressive Game 1 victory. Unfortunately for them, it would only be their only win of the series. They were unable to defend their homecourt against the reigning NBA champions and eventually suffers from four straight losses that ended their playoff run.

As for the Heat, after sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. They were well rested coming into the second round. LeBron James was crowned his fourth season Most Valuable Player award (his second back-to-back MVP seasons). They were heavily favored in this series. They dropped Game 1 on their home floor, however the Heat responded with a vengeance as they blew out the Bulls in Game 2, taking the next two in Chicago with empathic wins and they came back in Game 5 to wrap their series up and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals as their run for the repeat will continue.

The Heat will face the winner of the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, in which as of this moment of writing, the Pacers have a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Knicks.

As for the Bulls, "The Return" of Derrick Rose may not have happened this season, but with the extra downtine for him, he'll be back come next season. If he does return, expect the Bulls to come back to the elite of the Eastern Conference. To Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, get well soon as well. Chi-town will have better days come next season.

Here are the scores from all games of the series:

GAME 1 @ Miami: Bulls 93-86 Heat

Bulls leaders:
Points: Robinson 27, Butler 21, Noah 13

Rebounds: Butler 14, Noah 11, Boozer 7, Belinelli 7

Assists: Robinson 9, Noah 4, Butler 3

Heat leaders:
Points: James 24, Wade 14, Bosh 9, Allen 9

Rebounds: James 8, Bosh 6, Battier 4

Assists: James 7, Chalmers 7, Wade 4

GAME 2 @ Miami: Bulls 78-115 Heat

Bulls leaders:
Points: Belinelli 13, Noah 12, Robinson 11

Rebounds: Noah 6, Boozer 4
Assists: Belinelli 6, Teague 3, Noah 2, Robinson 2

Heat leaders:
Points: Allen 21, James 19, Cole 18
Rebounds: Cole 6, James 5, Bosh 5

Assists: James 9, Wade 5, Chalmers 4

GAME 3 @ Chicago: Heat 104-94 Bulls

Heat leaders:
Points: James 25, Bosh 20, Cole 18
Rebounds: Bosh 19, James 8, Wade 4, Andersen 4

Assists: James 7, Wade 5, Bosh 4

Bulls leaders:
Points: Boozer 21, Robinson 17, Butler 17
Rebounds: Noah 11, Robinson 6, Butler 5, Gibson 5
Assists: Robinson 7, Belinelli 6, Noah 4

GAME 4 @ Chicago: Heat 88-65 Bulls

Heat leaders:
Points: James 27, Bosh 14, Andersen 9
Rebounds: James 7, Haslem 7, Bosh 6
Assists: James 8, Wade 4, Cole 4

Bulls leaders:
Points: Boozer 14, Butler 12, Hamilton 11
Rebounds: Boozer 12, Noah 9, Gibson 9
Assists: Robinson 4, Hamilton 4, Teague 3

GAME 5 @ Miami: Bulls 91-94 Heat

Bulls leaders:

Points: Boozer 26, Robinson 21, Butler 19

Rebounds: Boozer 14, Noah 9, Robinson 5, Butler 5
Assists: Robinson 6, Butler 4, Noah 2

Heat leaders:
Points: James 23, Wade 18, Bosh 12

Rebounds: James 7, Bosh 7, Wade 5
Assists: James 8, Wade 6, Allen 2, Chalmers 2

Heat win series 4-1

K-Smoove

Bulls survive Nets comeback push.

In the only first round series that went to seven games, the fifth seeded Chicago Bulls survive a comeback run by the fourth seeded Brooklyn Nets. This after the Bulls go up 3-1 in the series, they allowed the Nets to come back and force a 7th game on the Nets' home floor. However, the Bulls sealed the series on the road to advance to the second round.

 Photos ©NBA

The Nets had a great first season since they moved from the Garden State of New Jersey to the New York City borough despite going through a coaching change during the middle of the season as Avery Johnson who led the Nets to a great start, faltered afterwards and was fired thus opening the door to PJ Carlesimo to call the shots for the Nets for the rest of the season. Brook Lopez had an All-Star year for the Nets, this despite Deron Williams having a rough season. Also helping the Nets cause are Gerald Wallace, Joe Johnson, Kris Humphries, CJ Watson and Andray Blatche to name some. The Nets took the opening game of the series. They lost the next three, but fought back to even the series and force a 7th game on their home floor. But their comeback bid came up short as their first season in Brooklyn ends in a tough home defeat.

As for the Bulls, they played all season long without their superstar Derrick Rose who was cleared by his doctors to play as early as January after his rehabilitation from the torn ACL he suffered in last year's playoffs. Despite not having Rose on the floor, the Bulls kept themselves competitive led by All-Stars Luol Deng and Joakim Noah as well as Carlos Boozer. Outside of the frontcourt trio, they have Nate Robinson, Kirk Hinrich, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Marco Belinelli to name some. They survived a comeback bid in this round as they went up 3-1 but lost the next two to set up a seventh and decisive game which they won on the road. It is still unclear if Rose will come to play in the next series, but the Bulls need to push themselves more in order to keep their playoff push alive.

The Bulls will face the defending NBA champions Miami Heat in the second round who are well rested after their sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

As for the Nets, they will look back on this series and the question on whether their head coach PJ Carlesimo will be back full time to call the shots next season, but as they say pro sports in Brooklyn is back.

Here are the scores from all games of the series:

Game 1 @ Brooklyn: Bulls 89-106 Nets

Bulls leaders:
Points: Boozer 25, Robinson 17, Butler 13, Belinelli 13

Rebounds: Boozer 8, Gibson 7, Noah 5

Assists: Boozer 4, Deng 3

Nets leaders:

Points: Williams 22, Lopez 21, Johnson 16

Rebounds: Evans 13, Wallace 6, Lopez 5

Assists: Williams 7, Johnson 4

Game 2 @ Brooklyn: Bulls 90-82 Nets

Bulls leaders:

Points: Deng 15, Boozer 13, Hinrich 13

Rebounds: Boozer 12, Deng 10, Noah 10

Assists: Hinrich 5, Deng 4, Noah 3

Nets leaders:

Points: Lopez 21, Johnson 17, Watson 10

Rebounds: Evans 8, Blatche 7, Lopez 5, Humphries 5

Assists: Williams 10, Watson 5, Johnson 4

Game 3 @ Chicago: Nets 76-79 Bulls

Nets leaders:
Points: Lopez 22, Williams 18, Johnson 15
Rebounds: Evans 12, Lopez 9, Wallace 4
Assists: Williams 4, Johnson 3, Watson 3

Bulls leaders:
Points: Boozer 22, Deng 21, Hinrich 12
Rebounds: Boozer 16, Deng 10, Noah 8

Assists: Boozer 3, Deng 3

Game 4 @ Chicago: Nets 134-142 Bulls (3OT)

Nets leaders:
Points: Williams 32, Lopez 26, Johnson 22
Rebounds: Evans 13, Lopez 11, Wallace 9

Assists: Williams 10, Wallace 4, Blatche 3, Watson 3

Bulls leaders:
Points: Robinson 34, Boozer 21, Hinrich 18
Rebounds: Noah 13, Boozer 8, Deng 8
Assists: Hinrich 14, Deng 6, Robinson 4

Game 5 @ Brooklyn: Bulls 91-110 Nets

Bulls leaders:
Points: Robinson 20, Butler 18, Deng 12

Rebounds: Boozer 10, Deng 8, Noah 4, Mohammed 4
Assists: Robinson 8, Butler 3, Deng 3

Nets leaders:
Points: Lopez 28, Williams 23, Blatche 13
Rebounds: Evans 12, Lopez 10, Humphries 6

Assists: Williams 10, Wallace 3, Lopez 2

Game 6 @ Chicago: Nets 95-92 Bulls

Nets leaders:
Points: Lopez 17, Johnson 17, Williams 17
Rebounds: Evans 15, Blatche 7, Humphries 4
Assists: Williams 11, Johnson 4, Wallace 3

Bulls leaders:
Points: Belinelli 22, Robinson 18, Butler 17
Rebounds: Noah 15, Boozer 13, Butler 7
Assists: Belinelli 7, Butler 6, Noah 5

Game 7 @ Brooklyn: Bulls 99-93 Nets

Bulls leaders:
Points: Noah 24, Belinelli 24, Boozer 17
Rebounds: Noah 14, Boozer 7, Belinelli 6
Assists: Butler 4, Robinson 4, Teague 3, Cook 3

Nets leaders:
Points: Williams 24, Lopez 21, Wallace 19
Rebounds: Evans 13, Lopez 9, Williams 6
Assists: Williams 7, Wallace 5, Blatche 4

Bulls win series 4-3

K-Smoove

Streak-busters: Bobcats snap losing streak. Nuggets snap Clippers win streak at 17. Award winners for December.

The year 2013 has arrived, a brand new year, and streaks came to an end this week across the association. Here are the highlights from Week 10 in the NBA.

Bobcats snap losing streak in Chicago.

Photo ©NBA/Bobcats.com

For the team who had the roughest year in 2012, they ended the year on a high note. As the Charlotte Bobcats snap their 18-game losing streak with a 91-81 victory against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bobcats with the win, surpass their win total from last season where they finished 7-59 making history as the worst winning percentage in NBA history.

Sophomore guard Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with a great all-around game, 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks on 6-13 shooting from the field, Gerald Henderson scored 16 points, while Ramon Sessions and Ben Gordon came off the bench and scored 15 points each. Bismack Biyombo grabbed 11 rebounds.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds with 4 assists and 3 steals. Carlos Boozer also finished with a double-double 19 points and 14 rebounds. Rip Hamilton scored 11 points.

Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap has been preaching patience to all the people who are on watch with the team. Who knows in 2013, maybe the Bobcats will make some noise in the East.

Nuggets snap Clippers 17 game win streak.

Photo ©NBA/Nuggets.com

A losing streak came to an end out East, while in the West, a winning streak came to an end, as the Denver Nuggets snap the 17 game winning streak the Los Angeles Clippers held, as well as getting a measure of revenge from their Christmas Day defeat in Los Angeles as they take a 92-78 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kenneth Faried finished with a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller each scored 12 points, Miller also dished out 12 assists, while Igouldala dished 8 assists. JaVale McGee off the bench added 11 points and 7 rebounds including his first career 3 pointer. Corey Brewer scored 10 points.

Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 12 points each. Griffin added 9 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan finished with a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds with 3 blocks. Chris Paul added 10 points and 6 assists. Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 9 points.

The Clippers are now in second place in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. With a tight race in the West, who knows who will coach in the NBA All-Star Game in Houston for the West? 

Meanwhile in Week 9, Monta Ellis becomes the second Milwaukee Bucks player after Brandon Jennings and the sixth player to receive the Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award this season. While Greivis Vasquez of the New Orleans Hornets becomes the eighth receipient of the Western Conference Player of the Week Award.

LeBron James of the Miami Heat wins his second straight Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award for the month of December, while Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers won the Western Conference Player of the Month in December.

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers wins his second straight Western Conference Rookie of the Month in December, while Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in December.

Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers wins the Western Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Clippers to a perfect December (16-0). While Larry Drew of the Atlanta Hawks won in the Eastern Conference after leading the Hawks to a 10-5 record in December and see them competing in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference.

Now, here are the standings from around the association:

Western Conference:

1. Thunder (25-7), 2. Clippers (27-8), 3. Spurs (27-9), 4. Grizzlies (20-10), 5. Warriors (22-11), 6. Rockets (20-14), 7. Trail Blazers (18-15), 8. Nuggets (19-16), 9. Timberwolves (15-15), 10. Jazz (17-18), 11. Lakers (15-17), 12. Mavericks (13-21), 13. Kings (13-21), 14. Suns (12-22), 15. Hornets (8-25)

Eastern Conference:

1. Heat (22-9), 2. Knicks (23-10), 3. Hawks (20-12), 4. Pacers (20-14), 5. Bulls (18-13), 6. Nets (19-15), 7. Bucks (16-16), 8. Celtics (16-17), 9. 76ers (15-20), 10. Pistons (13-22), 11. Raptors (12-21), 12. Magic (12-21), 13. Bobcats (8-24), 14. Cavaliers (8-27), 15. Wizards (4-27)

Stay tuned as the next NBA weekly blog comes your way next week.

K-Smoove