Post All-Star break, the Chicago Bulls had a top-10 defense in the NBA. You would never have known that Wednesday night.
From the opening tip, it felt like a parade to the rim for the Heat, and off that they were able to kick-out for open 3s, or draw defenders and hit other cutters.
The result was bucket after bucket, led by Tyler Herro, who finished the night with 38 points and shot 10-of-10 in the paint.
TYLER HERRO TAKES OVER, HEAT KEEP SEASON ALIVE 🙌
🔥 38 PTS (23 in 1st half)
🔥 68.4 FG% (13-19 from field)Miami will take on Atlanta Friday at 7pm/et on TNT… winner gets the 8 seed in the East! pic.twitter.com/oPARGl6N81
— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2025
Miami ultimately walked away with the comfortable win on the road, 109-90, taking the East 9/10 play-in game, and with that, they will travel to Atlanta on Friday night to face Trae Young and the Hawks in one game to see who will be the No. 8 seed.
The Bulls’ season is over — for the third year in a row Miami eliminated Chicago.
The result is not surprising for Chicago, this is a team that has pivoted towards a rebuild since last summer — trading away Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso — but kept winning enough behind Coby White and Josh Giddey to stay in the play-in. Chicago GM Arturas Karnisovas has said he wants to build a roster deep with two-way talent (more than to land one big star, think Houston’s roster, for example). This game was evidence of how far away the Bulls are from having nine or 10 players near that level.
Miami came out with playoff intensity, and Chicago came out with random Tuesday night game in February intensity. In addition, Miami walked on the court with a plan to shut off the Bulls in transition and not let Josh Giddey, Coby White and Chicago get out and run — when the Bulls don’t have that, their entire offense falls apart.
In the halfcourt, Chicago’s passing wasn’t sharp, it was just a little off, so the Bulls couldn’t create swing-swing opportunities moving the ball to the weak side before the Heat pressure rotated. If Chicago’s first action didn’t create a good look, the team struggled.
Miami had no such issues.
Herro was on fire from the opening tip, attacking Giddey specifically, but mostly getting downhill and attacking. Miami’s first six shots came in the paint and the Heat had 16 points in the paint in the first quarter, plus were 6-of-9 from 3 as a team, and put up 39 points in the first quarter to lead by 11 after one. Herro had 16 points in the first quarter.
Miami stuck with its game plan and kept stretching that lead out, getting it to 20 by the middle of the first quarter.
Herro had 23 points on 8-of-8 shooting in the first half, and Miami led 71-47 at the break. Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and Adebayo had 15 points and 12 boards. For the game, Miami won the points in the paint battle by 16 (56-40).
Chicago made a little push in the second half — Talen Horton-Tucker came in and was a pure gunner, and with that hit a few shots — but the lead never fell into single digits. There was never a real threat. Giddey led the Bulls with 25 points but was 9-of-21 shooting.
And with all that, Miami is on a plane to Atlanta with a chance to make the playoffs.
