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MIAMI -- The Miami Heat will hold All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh out of their game Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there is no specific injury to either player -- the team is continuing to get its stars rest in advance of the playoffs, which open April 28.

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CHICAGO -- A nephew of Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade was one of 13 men shot -- two fatally -- during a violent six-hour stretch in Chicago, another indication that violence is on the rise in the nation's third-largest city.

A spokesperson for Wade confirmed that his nephew was one of those injured in a Thursday shooting at a convenience store. The spokesperson declined to confirm the nephew's name or condition.

Wade, a Chicago native, was playing in a game at Toronto on Friday night.

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Bulls excel in spot-up situations

NEXT LEVEL: The Bulls made 10 of 19 3-pointers Wednesday, including 8 of 12 on spot-up plays. For the season, the Bulls average fewer than four made 3-pointers a game on spot-up plays. John Lucas, who finished with a team-high 24 points, made three of his four 3-point attempts on spot-up plays.

James excels inside, Bosh struggles outside

NEXT LEVEL: LeBron James made 8 of his 9 field-goal attempts from 10 feet and in. Chris Bosh made just one of his 10 shots from outside three feet.

Wade gets going in pick-and-roll

NEXT LEVEL: Dwyane Wade made 10 of 12 shots in the second half, including all five of his shots as a pick-and-roll ball handler. For the game, Wade was 7 for 8 for 14 points as a pick-and-roll ball handler. Wade averages about three points per game on such plays the season.

CHICAGO -- A handful of reporters clustered around the Miami Heat locker room, but the scene was far subdued from the bygone days of 2011.

Chris Bosh stared at his iPad, wearing giant headphones. Dwyane Wade sat and talked to a friendly Chicago reporter about the Bears. LeBron James sat at a locker and listened to loud rap music, sans headphones, with a plastic bottle of ketchup at his feet.

No one bothered them.

Of course, that’s because the so-called “Big Three” have a policy of not speaking to the media before games, just at the morning shoot-around. And since shootarounds are often canceled this season, that takes the hype down a few notches.

“We’re just trying to go out and play basketball,” forward Udonis Haslem said. “Last year the majority of conversations were about us, and it’s kind of hard to get used to sometimes, but I think we’ve kind of settled in.”

But the Heat still get booed wherever they go, and they did Wednesday night at the United Center. LeBron James got booed louder than any opponent this season.

“People still dislike us,” Haslem said with a chuckle.

The Bulls have been open and honest about chasing the Heat this season. The loss in the Eastern Conference finals still stings.

"To beat them you've got to play almost a perfect game," Derrick Rose said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000.

The Bulls had a 2 1/2 game lead in the East going into the teams’ second matchup. So Haslem, the Heat mainstay, doesn’t see it like that.

“No, we don’t look at it as they’re chasing us,” he said. “We look at as they’re the best team in the NBA right now with the best record. They’ve got the reigning MVP. They’re very physical, very good and mentally tough.”

Haslem was surprised when a reporter told him Rose was out -- “Are you sure?” he asked --ut he didn’t think that would make it easy.

"They’ve won without him this year,” he said. “I’ve been watching them closely and those guys have competed without Derrick Rose.”

“Derrick’s an unbelievable player and we have a lot of respect for him, but this team is more than Derrick Rose,” forward Shane Battier said. “They don’t have the best record in the league with just Derrick Rose.”

Battier missed the media circus last season, but unlike Haslem, this kind of attention, however muted, is something new for the erudite Duke grad.

“It’s been dynamic, it’s been dynamic,” Battier said. “It’s been interesting. It’s been a good change for me at this point in my career. It’s a fun challenge.”

When asked during Saturday's All-Star practice about Derrick Rose's minutes situation for Sunday's game, Chicago Bulls (and Eastern Conference) head coach Tom Thibodeau responded this way.

"He'll get a few, Thibodeau said. "But not too many."

Bulls forward, and fellow All-Star, Luol Deng said he hasn't discussed his minutes with Thibodeau yet.

"No, we haven't," Deng said on Friday. "I don't think it's going to be anything crazy. He's got a lot of things to think about. A lot of guys to play before me and Derrick, so minute-wise, I don't think me and Derrick, whether we play too much or don't play enough, myself anyway, that I'll be worried about that."

Rose is a fan of Wade: Over the course of a 40-minute media session, some strange questions and answers always pop up. Here were a few of the more interesting ones from Friday:

When asked which player he would pay to watch, Rose brought up the name of fellow Chicagoan Dwyane Wade.

"I would have to say D-Wade," he said. "He's a guy where he hits all types of crazy shots. You never know what he's going to do. Crazy skills. That's one guy I think I would pay to watch."

As for a superpower, if he could have one, Rose went a different direction.

"I would want to be invisible."

What about hobbies?

"Sleeping. Playing video games. And that's about it."

On playing in the All-Star Game with such a talented team:

"It's fun. I just sit there and watch. Pass the ball and watch."

The last word: Rose, on if he would try to get to know any of his fellow All-Star teammates like Wade and LeBron James.

"I really don't talk like that. I'm like a loner. I stay to myself. Just be in my own little comfort zone."

The Chicago Bulls are off to their best start since the Jordan days and on Sunday, they'll be looking for revenge. It's the first matchup between these two teams since the Heat ended the Bulls' breakout season in the Eastern Conference finals in five games.

Does Derrick Rose have a leg up on LeBron for MVP this season? Is Derrick Rose a better big game player than LeBron or D-Wade? Was Rip Hamilton a bigger signing than Shane Battier? Will the Bulls repeat as East regular season champs? Will the Bulls reach the Finals?

In another edition of the Heat Index's 5-on-5 series, our stable of writers and voices play some "Fact or Fiction" with the story lines surrounding Sunday's Bulls-Heat matchup.

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The "NBA Countdown" crew discusses what Sunday's Bulls-Heat game means for Chicago.

CHICAGO -- Everyone knows Tom Thibodeau is the Roger Ebert of the NBA. Film is his passion.

During their abbreviated training camp, the Chicago Bulls had exercise bikes facing the projection screen on their practice court, all the better to multi-task while he showed a horror movie.

Thibodeau's film, footage from the team's Eastern Conference finals meltdown, was for mature audiences and it had a distinct purpose.

If the Bulls players tried to avoid thinking about the Miami Heat collapse during their extended hiatus, they couldn't escape the footage of the preening Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as they prepared for their second season as a targeted team with sky-high expectations.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- It's the rumor that just won't go away. It's the rumor everybody in Chicago wants to talk about.

Is Dwight Howard going to be dealt to the Bulls?

I still say the answer is no.

If Orlando GM Otis Smith trades Howard to the Bulls, the Magic will add another huge roadblock to their path toward becoming Eastern Conference champions in the next decade. With Derrick Rose and Howard leading the Bulls and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade headlining the Heat, how could the Magic sell legitimate championship aspirations to their fan base?

The Magic are in trouble either way and would be in even worse shape if they let Howard walk. But if you're the Magic, why would you deal him to a team you're going to face four times every year? For argument's sake, would a Bulls offer really be that much better than a package any other team could offer?

Let's take a closer look:

Like every other team in the league, the Bulls have an interest in Howard. After all, 26-year-old franchise centers (he turns 26 on Thursday) don't go on the market every day. The Bulls would be willing to deal anyone not named Rose to make a deal happen.

So that deal would have to include Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, because like every other team in the league, nobody wants to touch Carlos Boozer's contract. The Magic would surely ask for Taj Gibson and/or Omer Asik and the draft rights to Nikola Mirotic as well. That would add up to about $27.4 million in salary, and the Magic likely would have to add Hedo Turkoglu to make the trade work.

But the Magic are trying to get younger and cheaper in any potential deal. Why would they take back the contracts of Noah and Deng who, aside from having a combined eight years and over $100 million left on their deals, have had serious injury problems?

You could say the same thing about Andrew Bynum, who likely would be the centerpiece in a Howard-Lakers trade. But Bynum is still just 24 and only has one more year left on his deal before a team option. If the Magic decide they want to shed Bynum's deal a year from now they still could and probably would get a nice combination of pieces in return.

Who is going to want Deng's and Noah's deals if either one goes out and gets hurt again this season? The Magic would be stuck with two albatross contracts, which would be ironic, considering they already have two on their books right now in Gilbert Arenas and Turkoglu.

If Smith decides to unload Howard there is little doubt he would want Howard's new team to take one of those deals. The Bulls would basically have to gut their roster to make the numbers work.

OK, fine. Do whatever it takes to get Howard. Go into the luxury tax. Whatever. The Bulls would finally have their own star-studded trio of Rose, Howard and Boozer to match up with James, Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Howard gets to play with one of his friends, Boozer, and another in Rose, who he has spent a lot of time with the past few summers working on adidas commercials. He gets to play in a major market and expand his personal "brand," as he's discussed at various times throughout the past year.

This is the dream scenario if you're a Bulls fan. There are still a few major issues, though.

Does Howard really want to live and play in Chicago? ESPN analyst Ric Bucher noted several weeks ago that Howard only wants to play in a warm-weather climate. It makes sense given that Howard grew up in Atlanta and has spent his entire professional career in Orlando. Would he be happy spending the winters dealing with the bone-chilling temperatures in the Windy City?

It may not be a deal-breaker, but if Howard truly does want to get out of Orlando, he certainly will have some say in where he ends up because it's hard to believe any team would deal for Howard without him first signing a contract extension.

To that point, one more thing to consider is whether or not Howard wants to come to a team where he isn't "the man." No matter what Howard would do if he came to the Bulls, he would always play second fiddle to Rose. This is Rose's team. Fans adore him here. Howard enjoyed all the attention and adulation that came to him in Orlando. Would he enjoy being the Robin to Rose's Batman in a new city?

Howard would also be the No. 2 guy with the Lakers behind Kobe Bryant, but how many years does the 33-year-old Bryant have left? He has logged a lot minutes during his career and is entering his 16th NBA season. Rose is still just 23. He's the reigning NBA MVP and is entering his fourth NBA season. He figures to be the cornerstone of the Bulls franchise for at least the next decade. If Howard went to the Lakers, he would fill Bryant's shoes as far as being the main attraction, sooner than later. That really wouldn't be an option for him in Chicago.

LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony are going home -- and bringing friends with them.

With no end to the NBA lockout in sight, the All-Star group is set to lead a four-game "Homecoming Tour," starting with a matchup in James' hometown of Akron, Ohio on Dec. 1, followed by a Dec. 4 game in New Orleans, a Dec. 7 game in Chicago and culminating with a Dec. 10 contest in East Rutherford, N.J.

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CHICAGO -- Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said Thursday that while the Chicago Bulls are a great team, they still may be one player from being an annual championship contender.

"They met us in the Eastern Conference finals, and they were one player away from making it a very, very, very tough series," Wade told ESPNChicago.com during an event for his "Wade's World" charities. "Derrick Rose is evolving into a phenomenal player. You could look and see they're one player away from being there every year."

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CHICAGO -- It didn’t feel as if the season was slipping away.

Leading 73-63 after two free throws by Luol Deng with 6:06 remaining in regulation, Bulls’ fans were in celebration mode, victory stories were being constructed, plane reservations to Miami for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals secured.

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MIAMI -- Let's take a quick look at how the Miami Heat earned a 101-93 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena. The Heat lead the series 3-1.

How it happened: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh took over for the Heat in overtime, scoring all of the team's 16 points as the Bulls made uncharacteristically poor decisions in the waning moments, including several head-scratching turnovers. Derrick Rose had 23 points, but he also committed seven turnovers. Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer each had 20 points. The Bulls had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but Rose air-balled a jumper as the clock ran out. The Bulls will be kicking themselves for not closing this one out when they had the chance.

What it means: The Bulls have said repeatedly that they could gain playoff experience on the fly and that it wasn't as important as many believe. Having watched the Bulls implode in the final minutes, it sounds like the players were just wrong. They couldn't get any shots to fall, and it was clear that James and Wade, two players who had been through the battles of the playoffs, took over the game in overtime and rose to the occasion. Along with Bosh, they made plays when they had to and played lockdown defense on a Bulls team that seemed to wilt under the pressure. The Bulls will learn from this experience, but the series may well be over given how difficult it will be for the Bulls to knock off the Heat three straight times.

Stats of the night: The Bulls outscored the Heat 44-24 in the paint and still lost. The Bulls turned the ball over 19 times. For the first time all year, the Bulls have lost three in a row.

What's next: The Bulls hit the practice floor on Wednesday afternoon and try to get mentally prepared for Game 5 on Thursday night in Chicago.

MIAMI -- The Chicago Bulls lead the Miami Heat 46-44 at halftime in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Derrick Rose and Luol Deng lead the Bulls with 10 points each. LeBron James has 12 points to lead the Heat while Mario Chalmers has added nine off the bench.

This has been a game dominated by runs up to this point. The Bulls started off the game on a 19-8 run. The Heat followed that up with a 29-9 run and then allowed the Bulls to crawl back in and take the lead back.

The Bulls closed the second quarter on an 18-7 run. It appeared the Heat had a chance to pull away from the Bulls, but Rose made several shots at the end of the half, including a huge dunk over Joel Anthony.

Rose needs to continue to play well if the Bulls want to pull out a win. Despite his solid play at the end of the half, he was just 4-for-14 from the field. Both teams will kick themselves for not taking better control of the game when they had it.

Two key stats to keep an eye on in the second half: The Bulls lead the Heay 26-10 in points in the paint, and the Heat hold a slight edge in rebounding, 21-20.

MIAMI -- Let's take a quick look at how the Miami Heat earned a 96-85 win over the Chicago Bulls in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night at American Airlines Arena. The Heat lead the series 2-1.

How it happened: Chris Bosh played the best game of his brief Heat career scoring 34 points. LeBron James had 22 points while Dwyane Wade added 17 points. Carlos Boozer had the best game of his postseason run scoring 27 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, but it wasn't enough for the Bulls who had a hard time getting past Miami's defense all night. The Heat were suffocating at times and the Bulls did not have an answer. Derrick Rose had 20 points, but he made several questionable decisions down the stretch and continues to have a hard time getting to the rim against the Miami defense.

What it means: The Bulls are going to kick themselves again. They slowed down James and Wade (at least to a certain extent), but they did not do a good job on Bosh, and it killed them. They couldn't slow him down all night and it was even more magnified given how much Joakim Noah struggled to contribute on both ends of the floor. The larger issue for the Bulls is that the team's offense doesn't look good. Aside from Rose and Boozer, and to a lesser extent, Luol Deng who had 14, the Bulls struggled. The Miami defense is good, but it still doesn't seem as if the Bulls have enough consistent playmakers and that's becoming a bigger issue as each game passes.

Stat of the night: In 29 minutes of play, Noah scored one point, grabbed five rebounds and picked up five fouls.

What's next: The Bulls will practice Monday afternoon in preparation for Game 4 on Tuesday night.