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MIAMI — The Chicago Bulls have one final chance to punch their ticket to the NBA playoffs in the play-in tournament Friday against the Miami Heat.
The Bulls became the first No. 10 seed to advance in the play-in after beating the Raptors 109-105 on Wednesday in Toronto.
The Bulls-Heat winner will be the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and face the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Here’s what to look for in the matchup against the Heat in Miami.
The Bulls have the momentum.
They are fresh off a galvanizing win in Toronto, a 19-point comeback fueled by massive performances from Zach LaVine (39 points) and DeMar DeRozan (23). The Heat, in contrast, imploded in a 121-113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks as stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo struggled.
The Bulls also have plenty of reason to feel confident after sweeping the season series 3-0. The Bulls won those games by an average of 10.7 points.
- Oct. 19 in Miami: Bulls 116-108
- Dec. 20 in Miami: Bulls 113-103
- March 18 at the United Center: Bulls 113-99
LaVine missed the first of those matchups — the season opener — after the Bulls made the last-minute decision that he would need injujry management in the opening weeks because of offseason knee surgery. DeRozan scored 37 points to make up for the absence of his co-star.
This is a statistically strong matchup for the Bulls. While the Heat often outmatch the Bulls on the offensive boards, their 3-point shooting hasn’t been consistent enough to reliably boost the offense. And the Heat defense fell to 22nd in the league since the All-Star break, offering more wiggle room for the Bulls offense, which sometimes can fall stagnant.
The Bulls averaged 20 points off turnovers in their three wins over the Heat this season, accounting for nearly 18% of their total offense.
The Bulls are proficient capitalizing on errors — they average the fourth-most points off turnovers in the league — but they thrived in the series this season when forcing the Heat to run and out of their typical offense.
Turnovers were crucial in the second-half rally Wednesday. The Bulls scored 22 points off 16 turnovers, and five steals fueled an eight-point swing in less than four minutes of the fourth quarter.
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Guard Alex Caruso, who forced the Raptors into seven turnovers — three steals, three blocks and one drawn charge — fueled the disruption. While he usually doesn’t log many points, Caruso is a game changer on defense — and he welcomes the challenge.
“This is kind of my time of year,” Caruso said. “This is why I play basketball — for these games late in the year when details and discipline matter and the will to compete at a high level for 48 minutes. I just didn’t want to lose. That’s what it comes down to — have an edge and make plays.”
Butler will face the Bulls in the postseason for the first time since he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017.
The Bulls drafted Butler in 2011, and he took the team to the playoffs in his final five seasons in Chicago. He hasn’t missed the postseason since, competing with the Timberwolves in 2018, the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 and the Heat for the past three seasons.
Although he typically is dangerous in the playoffs — averaging 20 points on 45.7% shooting — Butler shot just 6 of 19 (31.6%) in Tuesday’s play-in loss to the Hawks.
The Heat are 5½-point favorites, with the over/under set at 208½.
The game tips off at 6 p.m. CDT on ESPN.
