Yes, the streakbusters struck again.

Robinson scored 27 points, Jimmy Butler added 21 points and a career-high-tying 14 rebounds, and the Bulls beat Miami 93-86 on Monday night in Game 1 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series. The team that snapped Miami’s 27-game winning streak in the regular season — the second-longest in NBA history — found a way to topple the champs again, this time ending a run of 12 straight Heat victories overall.

“I’ve played on some tough teams,” Robinson said. “But this one, there’s something a little different, something special about this group.”

A seven-point deficit midway through the fourth wasn’t enough to doom the Bulls, who finished the game on a 10-0 run in the final 1:59. And to think, the Bulls weren’t anywhere near full strength. Kirk Hinrich was out again with a calf injury. Luol Deng isn’t even expected to rejoin the team until Tuesday, after dealing with an illness apparently so severe that a spinal tap — and other tests since — were needed to rule out things like meningitis.

“So proud of my team man, this bed might be good luck after all,” Deng wrote on Twitter after the game, with a photo of him in a hospital bed.

Oh, and Derrick Rose remains sidelined, as he’s been since April 2012.

No problem. The Heat are 41-3 in their last 44 games — with two of those losses to the Bulls, who are now 3-2 against Miami this season.

“I think when you’re facing adversity, you have to be mentally tough,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But this is just one game. We have to play a lot better in our next one.”

LeBron James got his MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern before the game, then struggled to a two-point first half before finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Miami. Dwyane Wade added 14 for the Heat, who had no one else in double figures, finished shooting 40 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 46-32.

“I’m not stunned,” James said. “This is what the playoffs is all about. We’re going against a really good team.”

Miami was outscored 35-24 in the fourth, something that drew the ire of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra afterward.

“There’s no excuses,” said Spoelstra, whose team had not played in more than a week. “We’re not making any excuses for time off or anything else.”

If anyone could have made excuses, it was Robinson. He needed 10 stitches, five in his lip and five more inside his mouth, to close a nasty cut that came when he dove for a loose ball with James and struck his head on the court late in the first half.

And then not only did he play the whole second half, he scored 24 points in those 24 minutes, including the last seven points that finished the job for Chicago.

“He was born a scorer,” Miami guard Mario Chalmers said.

Joakim Noah scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who got 12 from Taj Gibson and 10 from Marco Belinelli. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.

“We’re not really a flashy team,” Gibson said. “We like to go out and do our job.”

A pair of three-point plays by James — one of them coming when he just broke through a tackle attempt by Butler and muscled the ball to the rim anyway — gave Miami a 76-69 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the biggest deficit Chicago faced all night.

The Bulls were undeterred.

Coming off a Game 7 road win in Brooklyn two nights earlier just to get into a series with Miami, the Bulls just kept grinding. When Ray Allen made a 3-pointer to give Miami an 80-78 lead, Butler came back with one of his own to put the Bulls back on top. When the Heat went up by three after James made a free throw with 2:22 left, Belinelli connected for 3 — on a second-effort possession — to knot the game.

Then when Robinson connected on a 20-footer with 1:18 left, the Bulls had the lead and plenty of swagger.

Wade missed a 3-pointer on the next possession, Robinson drove the lane and scored with 45.5 seconds left, and suddenly the Bulls were up 90-86. James drove against Butler and tried a 12-footer that missed everything, the Bulls got the rebound, Robinson made a free throw to stretch the lead to five and the stunner was complete.

Game 1 to the Bulls.

“It’s all about being tough,” said Butler, who played all 48 minutes for the third straight game. “We’re always going to be the underdogs and we take pride in that. Everybody can overlook us, but we feel like we’re good enough to hang with a lot of these teams.”

It was a night that started with a celebration, James getting his MVP award from the commissioner.

“Thank you so much,” James said. “And let’s get ready to go.”

And with that, the game started.

Problem was, no one was ready to go.

The Heat missed their first seven shots — maybe rust really was a factor. It was 37-all at the half and James wore twice as many pairs of sneakers in the opening two quarters (two) as he had field goals (one). He had two points at the break, the lowest of his 120-game postseason career, on just 1 for 6 shooting.

He opened the second half with a 3-pointer, so the shoes were a quick fix.

But the Bulls were in for the long haul, and after James made the consecutive three-point plays to open a seven-point lead, Chicago answered with seven straight points, knotting the game at 76-all when Belinelli made a 3-pointer with just under 5 minutes left.

Momentum belonged to Chicago, and soon, so did the game.

“It’s just one game,” Belinelli said.
Game notes
James has played 885 regular-season and playoff games. He’s scored less than two points in a first half only twice, being shut out by Dallas on Oct. 31, 2007 and Dec. 20, 2010. He scored exactly two points on five other occasions before Monday. … Wade dove into the second row of seats to save an errant ball, and grimaced after appearing to hit his sore right knee. “I wish somebody would have grabbed me. That would have been kind of nice, especially at home,” Wade said. … The Bulls had 17 second-chance points on only nine offensive rebounds.

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Brandon Knight scored 20 points Sunday night to help the Pistons snap an 18-game losing streak against the Bulls with a 99-85 victory. The loss dropped Chicago two games behind Brooklyn in the race for the fourth seed and a chance to host a first-round series in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jonas Jerebko added 17 points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Pistons, who also ended an eight-game home skid.

The Bulls led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter but Detroit gradually caught up and took the lead in the second after starting the period on a 12-4 run.

“From that point on, we started to get stops and get out in transition,” coach Lawrence Frank said. “We made a lot of winning-type plays and played with a lot of intensity.”

The Pistons took a 50-46 lead to intermission and pushed it to as many as 10 in the third quarter. Knight scored a dozen points in the period, including a 3-pointer that killed Chicago’s last good chance at getting close. Detroit scored the first four points of the fourth and never let the Bulls get closer than 10 points the rest of the night.

“It felt good,” said Knight, who’d seen the Pistons drop the first three games of the series against Chicago by a combined eight points.

“We were the team to not make mistakes and capitalized on their mistakes.”

Jerebko and Charlie Villanueva (12 points) sparked a bench that outscored Chicago’s 33-12.

Rodney Stuckey, starting in place of injured point guard Jose Calderon, had 14 points and rookie Andre Drummond, who shot airballs on two late free throws in a one-point loss at Chicago on March 31, added 10 rebounds for Detroit.

Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who played without leading scorer Luol Deng. Coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t feeling sorry for his team, which has been missing former league MVP Derrick Rose all season.

“You can’t use that as an excuse,” he said. “Whoever is out there, we have to go out and get the job done.”

Nate Robinson added 18 points and Jimmy Butler scored 14 as Chicago’s two-game winning streak ended. Two of the Bulls’ last six games are against playoff-bound teams, the same number Brooklyn faces.

The teams will not see each other before the postseason.

Deng, the Bulls’ leading scorer and the NBA’s leader in minutes per game, missed the game with a sore hip. Thibodeau said the decision to bench him was “precautionary.”

Chicago’s Joakim Noah, who missed eight games with an injured right foot, and Marco Belinelli, who was out seven with an abdominal strain, each returned Sunday night. Noah finished with 13 points and seven boards.

The Bulls were aiming to match the franchise record for consecutive victories over an opponent, which also was against the Pistons. Michael Jordan’s 1990s teams won 19 in a row against Detroit.

The Pistons treated home fans to their first win since the All-Star break. They hadn’t won at the Palace of Auburn Hills since Feb. 13.

Game notes

Calderon, who had started all 28 games since Detroit acquired him in a Jan. 30 trade, missed the game with a right triceps strain. … Chicago’s last loss to the Pistons was Dec. 23, 2008. … The Bulls used their 13th different starting lineup.

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The pained expression and the negative body language were the result of another Bulls loss, this one in embarrassing fashion.

Tyreke Evans had 26 points and seven assists in the Sacramento Kings’ most lopsided victory of the season, a 121-79 rout of the Bulls on Wednesday night.

The Kings opened the second quarter with a 26-4 run against the lethargic Bulls to hike their lead to 34 points. It was an almost error-free first half for the Kings, who committed just one turnover and took a 65-36 lead into intermission.

The Bulls have dropped a season-high five straight road games and have a 7-12 record since beating Milwaukee on Jan. 30. It was the most one-sided loss all season for Chicago and Sacramento’s largest margin of victory ever against the Bulls.

“It was embarrassing, man. It’s hard to put into words,” Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said.

Boozer will get no argument from Thibodeau. The Bulls shot 38 percent, missed 19 of 21 3-point attempts, and committed 17 turnovers.

However, what was not in the stat sheet afterward was effort. The Bulls were lacking in that department as well.

“Our level of intensity was very poor. Our readiness to play was very poor,” Thibodeau said. “But I’m probably most disappointed in me. It’s my job to have them ready. We can’t come out like that, that’s on me. I have to drive (them) harder and I will.”

Boozer scored 21 points and Nate Robinson had 19 for the slumping Bulls, who lost their second straight and fourth in five games.

Short-handed Chicago played without injured forward Taj Gibson (knee) and veteran guards Richard Hamilton (back) and Kirk Hinrich (foot), who are all out indefinitely.

“We’re not playing well offensively or defensively,” said Joakim Noah, who had six points and nine rebounds. “It’s no time to make excuses (about injuries). We need to find a way to bounce back. We just have to move on fast and get ready for Golden State (on Friday). They are a lot better team than this team (the Kings).”

The Kings shot 54 percent, had a season-low five turnovers and scored 27 fast-break points. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the Kings’ largest margin of victory since Jan. 2, 1993, when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 154-98.

Making his first start of the season, Patrick Patterson had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Thompson had 12 points for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak against Chicago.

“I was just picking and popping and my teammates were finding opportunities for me,” said Patterson, who came to the Kings in a February trade with Houston. “I was just being in the right place at the right time.”

At least for one game, it mattered very little that Sacramento played without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings’ leading scorer and rebounder. He missed the game due to a sore left knee.

Cousins picked up his 12th technical foul of the season and was ejected from Sunday’s game against Milwaukee after picking up a Flagrant 2 for elbowing Mike Dunleavy in the head.

Though there was speculation Cousins would be suspended by the NBA and miss the game, the volatile center was spared of his third league suspension this season.

“We just opened the court up a little more (with Cousins out) and had our guards attack,” guard Isaiah Thomas said. “We were in attack mode from the jump. We know they’re a great defensive team and we wanted to just stay back in attack mode. I think Tyreke started it off and that got me going a little bit, then other people got going.”

There was no letting up in the third quarter for the Kings, who didn’t allow the Bulls to cut into their 29-point deficit. Thomas had 11 points and continued to push the tempo for Sacramento, which took a 93-60 lead into the fourth.

Evans had 18 points in the first half, when the Kings shot 58 percent. Sacramento began the second quarter with an 11-2 run and the lead remained in double figures the remainder of the game.

“It’s not so much the winning or losing right now, it’s the way we’re playing,” Noah said. “Is it the readiness? I wish I knew.”

It was a horrible first half at both ends of the court for the Bulls, who shot 35 percent, committed eight turnovers, and allowed 15 fast-break points. Boozer was the only bright spot for Chicago with 16 points.

Patterson helped get the Kings off to a fast start, making all five shots and scoring 11 first-quarter points. Sacramento shot 65 percent in the opening quarter and led 34-20.

“We need to get our swag back; get our confidence back,” Boozer said. “The only people that can fix it are in this room. (Maybe) we need a game like this to wake us up. The playoffs will be here in the blink of an eye.”

Game notes

Former league MVP Derrick Rose worked out before the game. Rose, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last April, is still contemplating a return to the Bulls this season. . Evans has averaged 23.7 points in his last three games. . Kings reserve forward James Johnson missed his second straight game due to personal reasons. . Attendance was 14,426. … Marco Belinelli missed all nine shots for the Bulls, including five 3-point attempts.

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Rose, who had surgery to repair a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on May 12, has been videotaped dunking off each foot, but more casually than he would during a game. A source said that although he has been practicing and scrimmaging hard, he told the Bulls that until he feels “in his mind” he can confidently dunk off his left foot in a game situation, he is not 100 percent mentally ready to return to competition.

The team is not pressuring Rose, the source said, but the Bulls are confident he will return this season and are still hoping for a mid-March return, which would mark 10 months after his surgery. The Bulls play at Golden State on March 15.

The source said the team has been assured by Rose’s doctor that there is no more chance of the former MVP getting injured upon his return than anyone else and that the doctor told the Bulls that physically “he can play now.” Rose is now dealing with the psychological side of trusting his body.

Rose, 24, raised the possibility that he wouldn’t return at all this season during an interview on Feb. 13 after the Bulls lost to the Celtics in Boston, which was the last time Rose spoke publicly.

“I’m feeling good, but like I said, if it’s where it’s taking me a long time and I’m still not feeling right, I don’t mind missing this year,” he said. “I would love to [return]. I would love to. That’s why I approached my rehab and my workout so hard. I’m trying to get back on the court as quickly as possible, but if I have anything lingering on, it’s no point.”

Since that interview, Rose has taken part in 5-on-5 scrimmages, beginning on Feb. 18.

He began sitting on the bench with the team on March 3.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice Friday that there are no new developments with Rose, and that the clearance for Rose to play in a game “hasn’t been finalized yet.”

“He’s doing everything there is to do in practice, so he’s been cleared from that standpoint,” Thibodeau said.

When asked whether Rose would be able to play in a game if he says he is able to, Thibodeau said: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. We’re just going day by day. Just keep improving.”

“Definitely getting stronger and stronger every day,” guard Nate Robinson said. “Hopefully, he’s right on time and right on schedule. He’ll be back when he’s ready.”

Thibodeau said the decision for Rose to play will be made by several people.

“There’s a lot of people that got to sign [off],” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, he’s the most important piece. But from Jerry [Reinsdorf, Bulls owner] on down, everyone has to sign off on it.”

As far as what Rose is doing in practice, Thibodeau said: “He’s doing everything. He’s participating in every part of practice.”

Thibodeau also said the Bulls are prepared to move on with or without Rose. “We’ll see what happens,” he said.

The perception that Rose wouldn’t return this season was enhanced on Feb. 22, when his brother Reggie Rose told ESPNChicago.com that the Bulls’ lack of activity before the trade deadline would be a “big factor” in whether his brother would return.

“It’s frustrating to see my brother play his heart and soul out for the team and them not put anything around him,” Reggie Rose said at the time.

Derrick Rose assured the Bulls, the source said, that he did not share his brother’s sentiment and issued the following statement: “I have always felt that the Bulls organization’s goals have been the same as mine and that is to bring another championship to this city.”

Bulls officials from Thibodeau to general manager Gar Forman, vice president John Paxson and all the way up to Reinsdorf have said they won’t rush Rose back. Reinsdorf told ESPN Chicago in August 2012 that he didn’t want to make the same mistake he made with Michael Jordan after Jordan broke a bone in his foot during his second season in 1985. Jordan returned and didn’t suffer another injury, but Reinsdorf has said that it was a risk he didn’t want to take with Rose.

The Bulls have told Rose that while they will support whatever decision he makes, they would prefer he return this season, the source said, “and get it under his belt, rather than wonder all summer if he could.”

Rose is considered the franchise cornerstone and signed a five-year contract extension worth more than $94 million in December 2011.

“There are a lot of kids out there that would love to see Derrick Rose come back and play,” Robinson said. “He’s a role model. Everybody looks up to him, including my kids. My son asks every day, ‘Dad, when’s Derrick coming back?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ It’s funny. Derrick’s sitting right next to me on the flight, so when I Skype my son, I take a little peek. He’s like, ‘There he is, let me talk to him.’ I’m like, ‘You can’t talk to him, just let him be.’ But (Rose) is working extremely hard, and that’s one thing I definitely respect about him. He’s very humble and he works extremely hard in the game that he loves.”

The Bulls enter action Friday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

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Rose’s rehab from his April 28 injury and May 12 surgery has steadily progressed to the point that there are no longer any physical limitations.

“He’s full-contact, yeah,” Thibodeau said before Wednesday’s morning shootaround as the Bulls prepared to face the Milwaukee Bucks.

The likely date of Rose’s return is after the Feb. 17 All-Star Game.

“He can do all the cutting, he can do shooting, he can go off the dribble,” Thibodeau said. “So it’s just a matter of him getting acclimated to playing in a game situation.

“You have to understand that in practice you’re striving to get as close to a game-like intensity as you can, but you also have to understand that you’re not going to be able to get there, so that will be a whole different level. And we have to make sure that he’s ready to handle that intensity.”

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive vice president John Paxson said recently they’re going to be cautious with the 2010-11 MVP.

“We don’t have the defined plan yet because Derrick is still progressing,” Paxson said Friday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “The way he feels and what his body tells him is going to dictate how we do things. But I can tell you one thing — and this is for certain — he’s going to have to have a high volume of practices and contact, and where he’s comfortable on the floor doing things that he used to do naturally. And that takes some time and he’s just starting that process now.

“We can’t sit here today and say he’s going to be back in three weeks or after the All-Star break. Those things are a hope, but his body is going to tell us and then when we get to that point, that’s when we’re going to have to sit down and determine, after we talk to our doctors and everything, then determine our game plan of minutes and how best to bring him back. We don’t want to bring him back and then have a setback because he wasn’t totally ready. We want this to be a progression where he comes back, he starts to play and every week he gets better and feels better.”

Reinsdorf consistently has maintained Rose won’t play in a game until doctors assure him he’s ready.

“There’s no date,” Reinsdorf said during an interview with WGN-TV on Monday. “The doctors say that he’s doing everything that he’s supposed to be doing and there’s no specific date.

“He’s not going to come back until the doctors say unequivocally that he has no greater chance of getting hurt than any other player. If there’s any risk, he’s not coming back.”

The Bulls head into action Wednesday 1½ games in front of Indiana atop the Central Division and in third place in the Eastern Conference. Reinsdorf said there will be an acclimation process when Rose returns, but Carlos Boozer, who’s been playing his best basketball with the Bulls in Rose’s absence, said it won’t be a problem.

“I just think we get better, man,” said Boozer, who is nursing his own hamstring injury. “I look at it as we’re going to improve quite a bit. He’ll make a seamless transition, he’s here every day, he’s practicing every day, and we do a good job of putting people in positions to be successful. So I think for us it will be a seamless transition and we’ll just be more dangerous.”

Thibodeau appreciates the mindset that his team has kept while waiting for Rose to return.

“That’s not a change,” Thibodeau said. “Over the course of a normal season those are the things that you have to deal with. Injuries are part of the game, so when we laid out the plan in the beginning of the season we said this is the way we’re going to approach this. Everyone concentrate on their improvement each and every day, focus on the opponent that you’re playing; Derrick will handle his rehab.

“You could take Derrick’s name out and substitute another player — when there’s an injury that’s how you have to deal with it and everyone focus on improvement, and hopefully down the stretch you’re playing your best basketball of the year and you’re as healthy as possible. So whether Derrick’s there or not, the approach would be the same. “

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Chicago At Washington
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 26, 2013
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
TV: 7 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Washington), NBATV
Prediction: Bulls 98, Wizards 86.

Chicago lost All-Star forward Luol Deng to a hamstring injury last week but has seen no drop-off with Butler stepping into his spot. Butler, a second-year swingman from Marquette, has played at least 43 minutes in each of the last four games and has put up 15.5 points and 9.3 rebounds while playing strong defense. He went for 16 points and 12 rebounds on Friday to post his first career double-double. “I love his toughness,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Butler. “ He competes on every play. He’s not afraid.” Making it easier for Butler is the overall strength of Chicago’s frontcourt, which built up a 56-37 rebounding advantage in the win over Golden State.

Chicago won its last outing, a 103-87 result against the Warriors on January 25. The Bulls covered in that game as a 2.5-point favorite, while the 190 combined points took the game OVER the total.

Team record: 26-16 SU, 17-25 ATS
Current streak: won 3 straight games.
is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Washington
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Charlotte are 9-1
After playing Golden State are 5-5
After a win are 6-4

Washington has looked like a different team since Wall’s return. The talented point guard sat out the first 33 games with a knee injury but has put up 14 points and 6.9 assists in his eight games back. The coaching staff has been monitoring his minutes and he needed only 21 to build up 14 points and five assists in Friday’s 114-101 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wizards have won four straight home games, dating back to a 101-99 triumph over NBA-best Oklahoma City on Jan. 7. Washington shot 36.5 percent without Wall around in an 87-77 loss at Chicago on Dec. 29. Beal led with 14 points.

The Wizards were a 114-101 winner in their most recent outing at home against the Timberwolves. They covered the 6.5-point spread as favorites, while the total score (215) made winners of OVER bettors.

Team record: 10-31 SU, 26-14-1 ATS
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 7 games at home
is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
When playing on Saturday are 1-9
Before playing Sacramento are 3-7
After playing Minnesota are 6-4
After a win are 3-7

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“It’s good,” said coach Tom Thibodeau before Wednesday’s 96-94 win over the Magic. “He’s been around the whole time. You guys don’t see him as much as everyone else does, the team does, I should say. So I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It’s the next step in the progression for him. He’s getting up to speed with everything offensively, defensively, his teammates.

“It’s just the next step, and he’s got to continue the things that he’s been doing and the team has to continue to focus on our improvement and our opponent and then at some point he’ll be ready to go. But he still has some time to go, everyone has to be patient, but it’s good to have him around.”

Rose, who has been doing all the noncontact drills in practice for the past few weeks, is still likely a month or two away from seeing the floor. The Bulls have not wanted to place a target date on Rose’s rehab, and Thibodeau reiterated that stance on Wednesday. When asked about a possible return around the All-Star break, Thibodeau was noncommittal.

“It’s when he’s ready,” Thibodeau said. “So that’s not anything that has changed from the start of the season, it’s when he’s ready. It’s not going to be sooner, later, ‘this is the target date,’ it’s just when he’s ready. So he’s doing practice, the predictable contact in practice, the next step will be regular practice, then he has to be able to go through regular practice for a while. And then, if everything goes well, then he plays.

“But there’s no time schedule so it’s everything according to plan. It’s just the next step. There’s several steps he has to go through. There’s several more that he has to go through — so everything’s going well, nothing has changed.”

Aside from a promotional campaign by adidas, Rose has tried to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. He walked into the Amway Center wearing headphones Wednesday and said hello to reporters.

Thibodeau doesn’t believe Rose’s presence on the road will give his team, coming off a disappointing loss to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats at home on Monday, much of an emotional lift.

“The thing is he’s already been in practice and they see him doing his rehab, so that part is … it is what it is,” Thibodeau said. “He’s not out on the court and that will be eventually what we have to do. He’ll be part of the group. But right now everything’s good, our team has to keep working, just focus on the improvement. Derrick has to continue to focus on what he has to focus on, and at some point he’ll rejoin the group.”

Rose also will travel with the Bulls to Miami for their game against the Heat on Friday night.

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