Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

LeBron James had a bit of advice Saturday for fans who are expected an exciting, high-scoring, offensively efficient playoff series between his Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls: watch the Western Conference finals instead.

“I can definitely see points in the game when it’s not going to be fun for fans to watch if you love exciting basketball because it’s going to be offensive struggles sometimes,” James said Saturday as the Heat wrapped up preparations in Miami and traveled to Chicago for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday. “It’s going to be two great defensive teams [that] take pride defensively, [teams that] get more out of getting stops than they do in scoring.”

With two of the league’s top-rated defensive teams set to matchup for the right to advance to the NBA Finals, James knows that points will be at a premium. But he’s not expecting a relative shutout, either.

“Someone has to score,” James said. “I don’t want it to be a Big Ten showdown out here. At some point, someone has to score.”

James, an Akron, Ohio native and avid Ohio State fan, was referring to the low-scoring, half-court style that often is associated at the collegiate level in Big Ten Conference basketball.

Despite the presence of three of the league’s top stars in James, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose, the Heat and Bulls have most excelled at defensively making matters difficult on opponents. The Bulls rank first in in the league in defensive efficiency, while the Heat have been in the top five all season.

Chicago has allowed 91.3 points a game this season and Miami has given up 94.6. The Heat and Bulls have held opponents to 43 percent shooting from the floor and also rank among the league’s best at forcing turnovers and scoring off the opposing team’s miscues.

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau agreed with James’ early assessment, predicting the series would be “probably a slugfest.”

“Hey, they’re a good team. They didn’t get here by accident,” Thibodeau said Saturday. “When you look at the teams that have gone this far you have to be well-balanced. You have to be good on offense, good on defense, good rebounding, and you’ve got to take care of the ball.”

The Bulls swept the Heat in three regular-season matchups, with the outcomes decided by a combined eight points. Only once did either team shoot as well as 48 percent from the field in the three games — and that came from Miami in a losing effort.

WRITTEN BY

Michael Wallace covers the NBA for ESPN.com. ESPNChicago.com’s Nick Friedell contributed to this report.

Follow Michael Wallace on Twitter: @http://twitter.com/WallaceHeatNBA

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