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CHICAGO -- The suggestion that hes a flopper drew a grin as wide as his wingspan from LeBron James. Miamis superstar shot down the accusations from the Chicago Bulls, saying they reminded him of the days when some claimed he was overrated and questioned his ability to lead a team to a championship. "Its kind of the same (as when) I heard people say I was overrated," he said Sunday. "Its kind of like the same response." The Heat are trying to repeat as champions after a dominant regular season, and if they keep this up, they wont have to worry about Chicago much longer. Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is Monday, and Miami has a chance to take a 3-1 lead in a series with no shortage of hard fouls, technicals, ejections and fines. One thing in short supply is healthy bodies for the Bulls, with Luol Deng still recovering from a spinal tap and Kirk Hinrich from a bruised left calf. The odds that either would play seemed slim at best on Sunday. Meanwhile, coach Tom Thibodeaus wallet is a little lighter after the league smacked him with a $35,000 fine on Sunday. That hit came after he accused James of flopping on that shove to the floor and questioned the officiating after the Heat took Game 3, saying the Bulls werent going to get the benefit of the calls. Thibodeau had already addressed the media by the time the punishment was announced and declined comment through a team spokesman. Yet there was still plenty of talk about that incident between James and Mohammed. "None of this is new to us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Nobody can hide from the fact that the games will be decided between those four lines. And our guys understand that." The Bulls Taj Gibson expects more of the same. "Both teams are tough and aggressive," he said. "Its playoff basketball. Were both rivals. They acknowledged it. We acknowledged it. Its just guys going after it playing like they dont like each other. But its just playoff basketball." In Game 3, Joakim Noah had already shoved Miamis Chris Andersen after he landed on a driving Nate Robinson late in the first quarter, and things nearly boiled over early in the second. With James dribbling near midcourt, Mohammed reached in to take a foul and stop a potential break. Their arms got tangled. Mohammed fell, and when he got up, he gave James a hard shove to the court. Both players picked up technicals. Mohammed got tossed, making him the third Bulls player to get ejected in the series along with Noah and Taj Gibson. "I dont need to flop," James said. "I play an aggressive game. I dont flop. Ive never been one of those guys." Its probably worth noting that James accused the Bulls of crossing the line a few times back in late March, when they beat Miami at the United Center to snap Miamis 27-game win streak. "What I said is what I said, but I dont want to get involved too much with what everybody else says about us, about me," he said. "Its nothing I havent heard before in my career. Its nothing. ... Im here to play basketball and do whatever it takes for our team to win. So what a coach and players say to me and about me, I dont really care." Both teams have concerns that stretch beyond the officiating. For the Bulls, it remains their health. Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of Derrick Roses surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and the only suiting up hes done for a game since then has involved a jacket and tie. Just about every other key player has missed time at some point, and thats continued into the post-season. Deng has missed five straight games, Hinrich has sat out six in a row, and both looked like longshots at best to play in Game 4 with Thibodeau saying theyre day to day. Hinrich did little other than some shooting and ride a bike, and Deng couldnt do much, either. "My body, my system, is not reacting well to anything Im doing right now," Deng said. He said hes feeling a little better and has regained two of the 15 pounds he lost because of the illness, but when he tries to exert himself, well, he really cant. Deng said he tried to work out individually on Saturday and wound up vomiting. He attempted to practice on Sunday and became ill during warmups, forcing him to stop. "I spoke to coach a little bit, If I could give 5 or 10 minutes, give these guys a little bit of a break but I cant even get through a regular warmup," Deng said. The Heat, meanwhile, continue to face questions about Dwyane Wade and his sore right knee. He took just seven shots and scored 10 points in Game 3, but he insisted that had more to do with the flow of the game and the Bulls packing the lane than his health. "A lot of my opportunities were not in the flow of the offence," he said. "If I would have shot a lot, it would have been forced. When I had the ball, I tried to make the best play. Sometimes, its to get two guys on me and pass it." SWell Marble Bottle Nz . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Swell Bottle Black . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. http://www.swellbottlesnz.com/ . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Discount Swell Bottles . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Swell Water Bottle Clearance . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Three years ago, Jadeveon Clowney heard the same unsolicited advice that Leonard Fournette no doubt receives at every turn.Sit out your junior year.No more free licks.Dont risk injury when you can become a first-round NFL draft pick.Today, Clowney says he did the right thing in playing through criticism and injury during the 2013 season at South Carolina. He says he owed it to his teammates to help them chase championships.Id still have played, Clowney said Wednesday. You can get injured anywhere. It wasnt about me, it was about my team at the time. I loved the group of guys I was playing with. I like those boys like my brothers. Some of them I still talk to to this day. And I was not going to just quit on them.So I would have played and tried to win a national championship. That what its about, he continued. I always thought about it. I always wanted a ring and to go to the national championship. I didnt get it, but I knew I had the chance when I was playing for it instead of sitting at home not doing anything.Those words might as well have come directly from Fournettes mouth, although he has not been able to back up that sentiment lately. A preseason left ankle injury has hobbled LSUs All-American running back throughout the season, and Saturdays game against Florida will likely be the third hell miss by the seasons midway point.Fournette says he will keep playing once he is able to, despite what a growing number of skeptics insinuates each week while he watches from the sideline.Im fine, Fournette said the day after a Sept. 24 loss to Auburn, where the ankle visibly bothered him even as he rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries. Overall Im going to be here playing with my brothers each game. Thats not going to change. Im just ready to play again.Fournette has not played since making those comments on the day LSU athletic director Joe Alleva fired coach Les Miles and replaced him with Ed Orgeron. He sat out Saturdays 42-7 win over Missouri and Orgeron said Wednesday that he does not expect Fournette to be available against the Gators, either.But should he return at all? Fournette already plays a contact-heavy position, and his physical running style only adds to the punishment that his body absorbs.Thats part of the reason Fournettes family took out two $10 million insurance policies -- a detail first reported in May by CBSSports.com -- as he approached what will almost certainly be his final college season.But self-preservation isnt really Fournettes thing. Teammates expect to eventually see the same Leonard who happily bowled over tacklers in meaningless spring practices return to the lineup once his ankle heals.Most guys on this team dont have that sort of thing. We dont have insurance policies on our draft status, LSU fullback J.D. Moore said. But I think his goal right now, his mindset, is hes got to be as healthy as he can be. I dont think it does him or the team any good if hes playing one game and sitting out the next. Thats just not the way he wants to operate. So I think if it takes a little longer on the front end to get him healthy to have more success on the back end, where really thats the meat of our schedule at the end of the year, I think thats his mindset -- trying to be as healthy as he can be.Thats advice that Clowney would likely offer, as well. Playing is one thing. Potentially hurtingg yourself or your team by playing before your body is ready is another.ddddddddddddSay he would have went out there with not that good of an ankle, he might have hurt something else or he might have done something else, said LSUs Ethan Pocic, the?top senior center prospect?in?ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.s latest 2017 draft rankings. Say me for instance, if I cant go, Im not going to go and maybe put [running back Derrius] Guice [in jeopardy] or the quarterback, because if I cant do my job, I dont want to let my teammates down.Thats the fine line that a superstar with high-first-round potential must walk.Clowney dealt with heavy criticism when a series of minor injuries knocked him out of two games and affected his production during his junior season. Like Fournette in 2016, Clowney -- also a former ESPN No. 1 overall high school prospect and first-team All-American as a sophomore -- entered that fall as a Heisman Trophy contender whose name sat high atop NFL draft boards for the upcoming year.His junior-year downturn generated plenty of debate leading up to the 2014 draft, but Clowney still went No. 1 overall to the Houston Texans. And even if he doesnt go with the very first pick should he enter next years draft, Fournettes ceiling seems just as high. He currently occupies the No. 1 spot?on?ESPN analyst Todd McShays Top 32 list and trails only Texas A&Ms Myles Garrett on Kipers Big Board.As McShay wrote, Resting until hes right will be the best thing for his long-term future. After logging 513 total touches in his previous two seasons, Fournette has little left to prove to NFL scouts.In the meantime, Fournette has maintained his role as a team leader from the sideline, even as teammates recognize his frustration.We all know hes disappointed he isnt playing, Guice said, but whenever I come on the sideline, were hugging, were doing our little handshake or hes just giving me some advice, telling me how I did on the previous play or drive. To me, hes supportive on the sideline. So all the He looks mad, I dont know where that comes from.As Moore indicated, the meat of LSUs schedule still lies ahead. Although the Tigers lost twice in a disappointing September that led to Miles dismissal, they are still in the thick of the SEC West race since games against division rivals Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M await them in the second half of the season. Fournette would be LSUs ace in the hole for that stretch run, assuming that he is healthy and engaged when that key portion of the schedule arrives.It remains to be seen how quickly Fournettes ankle will recover, but Orgeron, for one, does not expect to have any problems keeping his star running back engaged despite the personal interests that would convince many others to sit out.Sometimes it can be [difficult]. But you know, Leonard is a different cat, Orgeron said. Leonard has a high character. Hes a team guy. He wants the team to win, have success. I think he was happy to see the offense have success. I think he was happy to see Guice and Williams have such a successful night [against Missouri], and Im sure he wants to get back in there as soon as he possibly can.ESPN Texans reporter Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.? ' ' '