"Tom Thibodeau treats every game the same, so he isn't buying into the hype of Sunday's nationally televised game against the Heat other than to acknowledge the facts.

"They're the Eastern Conference champs, so we're chasing them," Thibodeau said.

The Bulls won all three regular-season meetings last season before succumbing in five games during the Eastern Conference finals. So the significance of any regular-season meeting must be muted, particularly with Richard Hamilton and Luol Deng being game-time decisions."