The Miami Heat held a modest seven-point lead over the Chicago Bulls heading into the fourth quarter of Saturday night's 117-103 victory, but the visitors blew the game open with an incredibly efficient final frame. The Heat made 13 of their 14 shot attempts in the fourth quarter, giving them the best shooting fourth quarter in 20 years:
Per Elias: Heat shot 13 for 14 in the fourth quarter last night, the best fourth quarter by any NBA team since Portland went 14 for 15 against Denver on Feb. 15, 1998.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 20, 2019
Miami's only missed field goal attempt during the quarter was a Tyler Johnson 3-pointer with 9:25 remaining in the game. Johnson was scorching besides that, though, pouring in 13 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Heat made seven 3-pointers in the frame, with Johnson nailing three of them.
Miami's flaming hot fourth quarter helped them shoot 57.0 percent for the game. Josh Richardson led the way with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. The Heat made 13 3-pointers for the game.
While Miami improved to 22-22 on the season, the Bulls lost their 10th straight game to drop to 10-36. Chicago's defense has failed them miserably over the course of this losing streak. The Bulls have the league's second-worst defensive rating over the last 10 games, beating out only the historically terrible Cleveland Cavaliers, per NBA.com.
The Heat's 154.5 offensive rating in Saturday's fourth quarter certainly contributed to this defensive decline.
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