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As the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls, 109-90, on Wednesday to move on in the NBA Play-In Tournament, the next challenge for them will be the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night to punch their ticket to the playoffs. The problem with that is that history isn't in favor of the Heat, as no tenth seed has ever come out of the tourney, but the team has immense momentum as Tyler Herro speaks about the mindset of the group.
Despite the challenge on Friday, the win over the Bulls was one to be impressed by, as despite routing the team, Miami finally won after being swept by them in the regular season. They were led by Herro, who scored a whopping 38 points on shooting 13 of 19 from the field, five rebounds, and four assists, as he would speak about how the team is “excited for this challenge,” which is facing the Hawks and achieving play-in tournament history.
“Jobs not finished,” Herro said via video from the team. “Obviously, we knew what our path was. It's going to take two wins on the road, which we're capable of. We knew that from the beginning, and we're excited for this challenge going into Atlanta. Just got to keep that same focus.”
Tyler: “Job's not finished, obviously. We knew what our path was… which we're capable of, we knew that from the beginning. We're excited for this challenge going into ATL, just got to keep that same focus.” pic.twitter.com/6Bl6i0ikew
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) April 17, 2025
Besides the productivity on offense, the Heat's defense got to the Bulls in slowing them down from being a fast-paced team and holding them to a season-low in points.
“We set the intention to come in here tonight, and really up the pressure and intensity on defense,” Herro said. “The offense, for me, will take care of itself. I tried to come in with that mindset, to just set the tone on defense, and then from there, we'll fuel from that. And that's kind of what happened there.”
Heat's Bam Adebayo, Erik Spoelstra stress the stakes of play-in tourney
Despite the Heat beating the Bulls in previous play-in tourneys, many predictions could have pointed towards the latter coming out with the victory, given how the regular season ended. However, with how much the game slows down in the playoffs, Miami played to the pace of their liking and came out the victors in a do-or-die situation, one where the assignment was understood, as said by Bam Adebayo.
“Good to bounce back, they swept us in the regular season, so we know what's at stake,” Adebayo said via video from the team. “You know, a lot of us has been in this play-in a lot, but backs against the wall, always says it's like March Madness, win or go home.”
While the win is worth celebrating, it's a quick turnaround for the Heat as they take on the Hawks on Friday where head coach Erik Spoelstra stresses how they're “halfway there.”
“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.“
Miami and Atlanta are tied 2-2 in the regular season where the deciding game comes in the most crucial siutuation where the winner takes on the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers and the other goes home.
