Last May, the Miami Heat entered the United Center for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals and staged a furious rally to eliminate the Bulls. Privately for Bulls' players, it was a season-ending moment of humiliation, not to mention disappointment.

Almost one year later on Tuesday night, the Bulls were in the identical spot of facing elimination as they defended homecourt, but now it was against the Philadelphia 76ers and it was in the first round. Although certain circumstances have dramatically changed – with both Derrick Rose (torn ACL) and Joakim Noah (ankle) sidelined – the Bulls again were the underdogs for this potential elimination contest in Chicago. This time, it was versus a Sixers' team that has seen its confidence surge as the series has progressed.

But the Bulls shoved all the injury issues and adversity aside, seized the moment that had haunted them since last May and guaranteed themselves at least one more game. With an elevated sense of urgency and a dialed-in focus to apply more physical pressure, Chicago earned a grind-out 77-69 win over the Sixers in Game 5 to make the series 3-2.

“Nobody wants to get eliminated at home,” Taj Gibson told reporters after the game. “… You never want to feel that feeling again. You go out there and battle until you can’t battle anymore. If you’re going to lose, lose in a dying effort, going out there and laying it on the line.”

While the Bulls were fighting for their lives, they fully believed the matchup could easily be 3-1 in their favor entering Tuesday’s game. The Sixers snatched homecourt advantage by winning Game 2, and then eked out two wins in Philadelphia – outcomes the Bulls feel would have been different had they executed down the stretch.

It is never beautiful basketball when both teams shoot around 40 percent from the field for most of the game, but the Bulls have now held the Sixers to below that mark for three straight games. In Game 5, Philadelphia shot a putrid 32.1 percent, as the starters went 17-for-58 from the field. Chicago has implemented its style of play on the Sixers, knowing the only way it will win games without Rose is if the scores are either in the 70’s or 80’s.

However, the Sixers were admittedly rattled due to a new wrinkle to this series, the Bulls’ physicality. Although there was not a major altercation, one sequence late in the second quarter encapsulated the gritty, hard-nosed style the Bulls were dead set on playing in hopes of extending their season.

Both Gibson and Elton Brand dove for a loose ball and battled for it on the floor right in front of the Bulls’ bench. The officials and players quickly broke up the skirmish and were each were given technical fouls, but Gibson’s hustle play admittedly sparked the Bulls – especially since the team dealt with questions regarding its physicality, or lack thereof, during the final month of the regular season.

Aside from the fact that the Bulls came out on top, they finally put up a performance in which they exhibited all the traits fans expected to see once Rose collapsed to the floor in Game 1. They displayed the toughness and heart that seemed missing at times in Games 2-4.

“That’s the way these games have been going,” said Spencer Hawes, who had a big gash and cuts on his face. “I got a scratch. It’s a physical series. So, if that’s how it’s going to go, then we can play that brand of basketball.”

Clearly, that brand of basketball is not susceptible to offense, though. For Tom Thibodeau, three reserves, in Gibson, Ronnie Brewer and John Lucas III, received double-digit minutes and just two players scored in double figures, but it was Luol Deng who picked up the slack and drained the critical shots the team failed to convert in Philadelphia.

The Bulls made a concerted effort to get Deng involved offensively from the outset, as the first two play sets were called for him and he converted on both. But Deng didn’t waste any time easing into the game or letting the ball come to him.

Instead, Deng sought shots out and made it a personal goal to maintain his aggressiveness throughout the game. He scored 24 points – matching his total output in Games 2-4 – including nine on three of his four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, to go along with eight rebounds while shooting 10-for-19 overall in 43 minutes of action.

Deng had grown so accustom to relying on Rose that he almost forgot what it felt like to create his own offense. In a game that featured lock-down defense and anemic offensive productions, Deng was the star and crushed his matchup with Andre Iguodala, making the torn ligament in his left wrist an afterthought.

“I felt like I didn’t shoot the ball enough [in Games 2-4],” Deng told the assembled media. “Tonight, I was more aggressive. Sometimes having Derrick out, we’re playing differently. When Derrick’s in the game, I’m less aggressive, and tonight I really wanted to be aggressive from the start.”

With the series returning to Philadelphia, the top-seeded Bulls believe the pressure falls on the eighth-seeded Sixers to close out on Thursday night. Minus Rose and possibly Noah, who is optimistic about his chances to return for Game 6, Chicago is already playing on borrowed time in the eyes of many.

“We know if we lose, we go home,” Deng said. “Now, after tonight’s game, they’re going to feel a little pressure in trying to close it out. We just got to go out there and take it one game at a time.”

But do the Sixers peg Game 6 as a must-win scenario?

“Yeah,” Philadelphia coach Doug Collins told reporters, “I don’t want to come to Game 7 [in Chicago].”