MIAMI — The Chicago Bulls season crumbled to a close Friday night with a 102-91 loss to the Miami Heat in the second game of the NBA play-in tournament.
Despite trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Bulls tied the game at 56 with 7 minutes, 40 seconds left in third quarter after a 12-2 surge.
But Jimmy Butler came alive to shut his former team down in the fourth quarter. He made back-to-back layups to carve the Bulls’ lead to two points with less than seven minutes remaining and scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to advance the Heat to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
The game quickly stalled into a defensive grind as neither team shot the ball proficiently. The Heat missed layups and wide-open midrange shots to finish 41% from the field. The Bulls also failed to finish shots, shooting 43.9% from the field.
Hickory Hills and DePaul product Max Strus kept the Heat afloat in the first half, scorching the Bulls for four 3-pointers to score the Heat’s first 12 points. Strus made his seventh 3-pointer to put the Heat up 96-91 with 1:14 remaining, then made three free throws after drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt with 40.7 seconds remaining. Strus went 7-for-12 from 3-point range and finished with 31 points.
After scoring 39 points to carry the Bulls in their opening play-in game Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors, Zach LaVine struggled to find his rhythm, finishing 6-for-21 for 15 points. That placed the offensive burden on the shoulders of DeMar DeRozan — a fitting challenge after he was named a finalist for the newly minted Clutch Player of the Year award earlier Friday evening.
DeRozan scored 26 points but couldn’t clinch the win, missing the first of his two free-throw attempts with 1:33 left while the Bulls trailed 93-90 and the Heat claimed momentum.
Alex Caruso buoyed the stagnant Bulls offense in the first half, netting four 3-pointers, and scored a season-high 16 points. Coby White scored 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting overall and 4-for-6 shooting on 3 pointers, including three in the fourth quarter. Andre Drummond also provided a crucial boost off the bench, logging six points and eight rebounds in 10 minutes.
The Heat advanced to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
