"Chi-town Hustlers"

"They don't call me the MVP for nothing!"

The one that they call the MVP didn't look like it early on. Frustrated by a rough start, Derrick Rose stood up at halftime and apologized to his teammates. When it was all said and done he'd scored 28 points to put boys on notice that he is in fact the King of Chicago and the NBA's MVP. Also Luol Deng contained LeBron James and the Chicago Bulls struck first in the Eastern Conference finals, pulling away to beat the Miami Heat 103-82 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

The Bulls reminded the Heat that they were in the Windy City and not to forget that they did sweep them 3-0 during the regular season. They went on a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth. As the final minutes ticked away, fans chanted "Over-rated!" and "Beat the Heat!"

As for the MVP's apology?
"It was on me," Rose said. "Careless turnovers. You can't do that against this team. When they get into the open court, they're too dangerous. ... I'm the point guard. I've got to do way better." And do better he did. He stepped onto the court in the second half and took over. The kid from the south side of Chi played like it down the stretch. Being born and bread in the Chicago he was obligated to show up and make the hometown crowd proud.

Jordan even played sick!

Of course he didn't win this game by himself. Deng had 21 points. He hit four 3s, had four steals, seven rebounds and shut down "The King", holding James to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Now I normally have LeBron's back but today he's on his own. If you are the man you've got to show up every night. When they call you "The King" a mediocre player like Deng shouldn't hold you to 15 points.

 Players like Jordan and Kobe got theirs every night. The mindset of other teams have always been, "Jordan is going to get his 30 to 40 points we just have to contain everyone else". When the main guy is held to 15 points that's a problem bruh. If you're going to be held in high esteem you've got to show up every night! Sick or dead! Jordan did it, Kobe's done it and now you've got to do it! Otherwise, call yourself  "The Duke" or " The Countess" but never the King because the King shows up and takes over every night!

"Definitely to guard a guy like that the whole defense has to stay focused," Deng said. "There were times we switched and times we forced him into the double. Our bigs were great at forcing him into the front."

Carlos Boozer added 14 points and nine rebounds. Joakim Noah had 14 rebounds and the Bulls pounded the Heat on the glass, 45-33, grabbing 19 on the offensive end while outscoring them 31-8 on second-chance points. Now I was completely surprised by Boozer's outstanding play. He's the type of guy that you just don't know if he's going to show up or not. We'll...last night he did.

One down and three to go according to the Chicago faithful. The Heat won't just go away that easily and I'm sure the Big Three will have a little to say about that. Remember that this is the NBA and it could be the exact opposite result in game two. So keep your popcorn ready because this should get better before it gets worse. Holla At Ya Boy!

Jay Graves
 Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.