Miami Heat Scorch Chicago Bulls in Fourth Quarter Comeback Victory

Jimmy Butler and Max Strus scored 31 points apiece, Tyler Herro added 12 points and Bam Adebayo nabbed 17 rebounds for Miami and the Heat sealed a crucial victory on a 15-1 scoring run to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 102-91, in the Eastern Conference’s final play-in game on Friday evening at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

The Heat secured the eighth-seed in the East and a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the East’s top overall seed in the playoffs, the first game of the best-of-seven series will begin Sunday. The Heat and Bucks split four contests during the 2022-2023 season, both going 2-0 at home.

“Our team has obviously not been perfect this year, but I do know one thing about the men in that locker room: The last 48 hours, I know how categorically, unequivocally, how badly and desperately our group wanted to get into this damn thing — and get into the playoffs to have an opportunity to compete for a title,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists, Alex Caruso had 16 points, Zach Lavine chipped in 15, and Coby White scored 14. Chicago upset the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they couldn’t get their second win on the road needed to make the playoffs over the Heat.

“They’re disappointed, when you make that investment from September to the middle of April, that’s a lot of time. You reflect back a little bit. I think they’re all disappointed. We were getting better as a group, I think, since the All-Star break. It would have been nice if we found a way to win tonight and continue on to the playoffs, but it didn’t happen,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

The Heat actually led by 14 in the first quarter, they held a 10-point lead in the third quarter, then that dwindled down to six point deficit with seven minutes left in the contest.

Miami’s season was on the line and Jimmy Butler would respond by scoring while getting fouled with two minutes remaining, which put Miami ahead the rest of the game. He would find Max Strus for a three-pointer a minute later, he knocked down seven from beyond the arc on Friday night. Strus would also secure the victory by converting all three of his free throws after getting fouled on an attempt from beyond the three-point line with 40 seconds remaining.

“Win or go home, we’re not done yet,” said Max Strus, a former Chicago Bulls member and an Illinois native.