Subscribe
Follow Us
With the Miami Heat routing the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Play-In Tournament, 109-90, the team now moves on to Friday night to face the Atlanta Hawks. As the Heat look to achieve Play-In Tournament history as the tenth seed, the game plan in beating the Bulls was an impressive feat, figuring out the equation that hadn't been solved all season.
Chicago had swept Miami in the regular-season series, with the latter having blown double-digit leads in all of the games, with the fast pace getting to them in each one. However, the Heat played by their rules Wednesday, starting fast, getting a double-digit lead, and sustaining it.
Besides being relatively efficient on offense, the defense shone as they held the Bulls to their season low in points scored, as Miami played to the pace they liked. Head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the “impressive” performance on the defensive side of the ball and how holding Chicago to 90 is not an easy task, according to The Miami Herald.
“Our guys really respected how much they can score,” Spoelstra said Wednesday night. “We had some impressive defensive efforts. To be able to hold that team to 90 is not an easy task. So, there were some very good defensive performances. I thought Bam set the tone at the beginning of the game just with his energy and toughness. The matchup was Giddy, but then different guys stepped up at different times. Wiggs defensively had some really good possessions. Davion, obviously, is so inspiring with his effort.”
The team held Chicago to shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 27 percent from beyond the arc while also forcing them to have 17 turnovers.
Heat's solved the Bulls in the game that mattered
While it may not seem shocking that the Heat beat the Bulls in the play-in tourney due to past experience in the same situation, the regular season showed a different story this season. Pace was a key factor going into this game, as the task coming into Wednesday night was slowing the game down and taking away easy points in transition, as the offense will follow, which is what team captain Bam Adebayo mentioned after the game.
Article Continues Below
“First things first, we were making shots,” Adebayo said. “It’s hard to run in transition when you got to keep taking the ball out. But obviously when we did miss, we got back and we loaded to the ball and forced them to run half-court offense.”
Heat looking to make history in the play-in tournament
Adebayo finished the game with 15 points on six of 16 shooting from the field to go along with 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. However, it would be Tyler Herro who came up huge for Miami, scoring 38 points on an efficient 13 of 19 from the field, five rebounds, and four assists.
Step 1 for Miami is complete in defeating Chicago, but the team is not in the playoffs yet, as they're looking to be the first tenth seed to make the dance through the play-in tourney.
“We’re only halfway there,” Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have the luxury of having the one game, and then you’re automatically in. “So, guys feel great about this win. We really put a lot into this. This is not something that can just happen overnight. We feel like there have been some good things happening the last several weeks, and this is the first time we’ve been mostly whole in a while, where guys feel good. “
The Heat travel to take on the No. 8 Hawks on Friday night with the winner facing the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers, in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
