The HEAT and Bulls split the season series, both sides winning one on the road, with Chicago ending Miami's then-seven-game winning streak back in November and Butler hitting a buzzer beater in December. Friday at 7pm they'll face each other for the No. 8 seed and the right to play the Boston Celtics.
Game 1, November 18: If you were in the mood for a weird one, HEAT-Bulls was here to satisfy your appetite.
You really couldn’t ask for a better start than Miami had as Chicago’s starters – granted, on a back-to-back – came out flat-flooted and a step behind every action the HEAT were running. What seemed like a fairly innocuous 9-1 start eventually stretched all the way out to 22-1, the HEAT getting to all their spots and the Bulls barely even approaching the paint.
But as teams like San Antonio and Charlotte have learned against Miami on the other side of things with their own big leads, first-quarter leads are nothing but first-quarter leads. Chicago’s bench came in and kick started the process of crawling back. Jevon Carter, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams all found their energy on defense and got to blowing up some of the actions that were working so easily for the HEAT minutes before and a handful of shots started to fall. First it was an 11-0 Chicago run, and soon enough they were back within six in the second quarter.
Miami held them off from there, buoyed by helpful shotmaking from Bam Adebayo (18 at the half) and Jimmy Butler (12) along with some in-the-bonus fouls on Chicago’s side, and by halftime it was still 50-40 after the Bulls had crawled back within two. Neither team was scoring well, the Bulls were just scoring worse (with an Offensive Rating of 87) and making more mistakes in the margins. Zach LaVine, Chicago’s leading scorer, had only taken three shots at that point.
Adebayo opened the second half with a trio of mid-range jumpers, but the grind for both teams continued from there, Miami getting to the free-throw line to keep them out front, the Bulls struggling to get downhill but capitalizing on a few missed transition pickups. Eight-point game after three.
Bulls back within four early in the fourth, but a pair of HEAT threes from Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson stretched it back to 10. As Miami went to zone and Chicago again stalled out, it looked like it might be clear sailing, but a few more threes from Chicago on broken plays brought them back within three again. Another clutch game, DeMar DeRozan making it a one-point game with just over three to play. Tied with 1:39 to go even after consecutive Butler scores on LaVine, and Chicago took their first lead, by three with under a minute to play, on a Caruso three created from a LaVine (13 points, six assists, three steals), much more aggressive in the second half, drive. Butler tied it up with a step-back three in the corner, only for DeRozan to take another lead with a tough jumper. Miami had their chance thanks to DeRozan’s fourth front-rimmed free-throw of the night, but Butler (25 points on 16 shots) missed a tightly contested triple in the corner, DeRozan (23 points on 12 shots, 9-of-13 from the line) made his next two at the stripe and that was the end of Miami’s seven-game winning streak, Bulls win 102-97.
Game 2, November 20: You would be excused for getting some extreme Saturday night vibes off the start to this Monday night game, with Miami leading 12-2 – scoring on their first five possessions – after leading 22-1 in their loss over the weekend.
Sure enough, Chicago made up the gap soon enough, quickly going on an 8-0 run and knotting the game at 40-40 in the second quarter. But where the first of this two-game series was a defensive battle, this was a veritable offensive explosion, the threes falling – Duncan Robinson and Coby White both hit three early on – and the paint opening up far more than it had before, the HEAT making more shots at the rim in the first half than they did in all of Saturday’s contest. Miami found themselves up, 65-53, at the break after a second-quarter burst from Kevin Love, and running, with an Offensive Rating of 151.2 on 8-of-17 shooting from three.
It wasn’t all thrilling, one Jimmy Butler “skyhook” aside, up-and-down basketball, but that’s not typically how Miami’s grinds out an efficient night absent opponent turnovers. They get to the line, they take care of the ball and they find mismatches to post-up. The write their names in the margins with pen. Doesn’t guarantee you anything, though, and Chicago shot their way back within three minutes into the third only for Bam Adebayo (23 points on 14 shots) to push it back to eight. Back within three again a couple minutes later only for Miami to again push back. HEAT by 12 going into the fourth, their hot offense sustaining just a little better than Chicago’s.
No drama tonight. No clutch. As Chicago’s shooting cooled and they watched defensive rebounds bounce off their fingertips, Miami kept making. This was Miami’s first double-digit victory of the season, 118-100, and we doubt anyone is going to complain about being able to breathe calmly at the end of this one.
Game 3, December 14: We just aren’t going to have normal first quarters this season, are we?
Miami’s defense is going to give up some threes by nature, that’s the natural byproduct of emphasizing interior help, but Chicago was getting wide-open practice shots through the first stretch. Before anyone could blink, the Bulls were up 33-8 after Chicago’s seventh three from five different players. It was not, to say the least, the most encouraging start on the second night of a back-to-back.
Then, after a timeout, Erik Spoelstra brought in his bench, including RJ Hampton who had previously not been in the rotation, and the younger, energized legs salvaged what was left of the period – a 14-3 run kicked off by Jamal Cain blocking a sure-fire transition dunk from Patrick Williams followed by a Jaime Jaquez Jr. three on the other end. Being down 14 after 12 minutes is a whole lot more manageable than 20-plus.
That particular comeback would not be sustained. Three minutes into the second, after another Coby White (26 points) three, Chicago was back up 24. Which only meant it was time to start a new comeback, fueled by more strong shooting even on a night where not much was going well, and a few minutes later the deficit was back to 11. Incredibly, through a combination of hot shooting, Chicago going a bit cold, a ton of free-throws and more steady, burst-heavy play from Jaquez Jr., Miami was down just four going into the break, all that first-quarter ugliness effectively erased.
A little time to rest helped Chicago settle everything down, and then it was time for Nikola Vucevic (24 points on 21 shots) to get to work, finishing inside as the Bulls eventually pushed the lead back to 14, round and round the deficit went. By the end of the period, a series of Kevin Love threes later, Miami was back within five.
Again Chicago threatened to pull away, White dashing into the lane for multiple layups, and again Miami pulled back within a couple possessions. But you fight an uphill battle long enough, sometimes you just fall short of the peak. Miami made sure this one wasn’t ugly, but DeMar DeRozan (23 points) and White finished strong for a 118-110 Bulls win.
Game 4, December 16: Another night, another lopsided first-quarter scoreboard that ultimately meant nothing for the team that happened to be in front.
After Chicago burst out to a 33-8 headstart on Thursday, hitting just about every three they put up along the way, this was Miami’s turn as they jumped out to an 11-3, 27-15 and eventually 33-19 lead with the Bulls dealing with a bout of turnoveritis and all the threes, including four straight from Kevin Love (22 points on 12 shots), falling. And yet, once Chicago started taking care of the ball they essentially matched Miami shot-for-shot, play-for-play on both ends, Patrick Willams (25 points on 10 shots) and Torrey Craig (16 first-half points, out for the second half with a foot injury) combining for seven threes and Ayo Dosunmu creating havoc in Miami’s passing lanes. Anytime Miami shoots 10-of-22 from three in a half you’d expect a decent lead, but at the break it was 58-57 with Chicago making 11-of-25 themselves – both sides posting an Offensive Rating of 130-plus.
The grind was on in the third, free-throws going both ways for the veterans until Miami’s turnovers pushed Chicago out front before a deep touchdown pass from Kevin Love – Nikola Vucevic had it read the entire way and the ball still found its target – to Butler put the HEAT back up with a 9-0 run, eventually a 16-2, run. Chicago’s threes cooled off, just as they did in the second half Thursday, and Miami kept on marching to the charity stripe. Once the threes started falling again, Miami was up 91-80 and in control.
Chicago has proven rather resilient these past couple weeks, though, and Miami’s double-digit lead was down to three with eight minutes to play after consecutive Coby White threes as Billy Donovan went to his small-ball lineup. Another clutch game, Bulls up three with 3:33 to go before a pair of offensive boards put Miami out front. Tie game, 30 seconds left, Vucevic misses on a drive and then Jimmy Butler. HEAT win, 118-116.