The Miami Heat withstand a late Chicago Bulls surge to secure a thrilling victory, thanks to clutch plays and a balanced offensive attack.
Chicago, IL - The Miami Heat would begin to face a unique situation in their regular season schedule, facing a team three times in the span of four nights, due to the cancellation of an earlier matchup originally on Jan. 8th. The team was coming off a difficult loss against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, with a final score of 133-124, due to a complete third-quarter collapse.
They remained without Tyler Herro (right costochondral rib injury) and Davion Mitchell (left shoulder contusion).
The Bulls were without guard Josh Giddey due to a left hamstring strain, who's having an All-Star season, averaging 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.8 assists while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from three-point range. Also, Zach Collins (right first toe sprain), Tre Jones (left hamstring strain), and rookie Noa Essengue (left shoulder surgery; season-ending).
The starting lineups:
Heat: Kasparas Jakucionis-Norman Powell-Pelle Larsson-Andrew Wiggins-Bam Adebayo
Bulls: Coby White-Matas Buzelis-Isaac Okoro-Jalen Smith-Nikola Vucevic
After the tip, Bam Adebayo was quick to get the scoring going after a made three-pointer from the right wing. Both sides were shooting the ball efficiently from all over the floor throughout the first quarter. It was tight and competitive, but ended with a score of 34-31, with the Heat having the slight advantage.
However, they'd begin to pull away throughout the second quarter, especially after sparking a 14-4 run, with Adebayo scoring seven of those points. The Heat were up 62-51 heading into halftime.
Some of the biggest keys to their success in the first half were forcing nine turnovers and scoring 18 points off of them. Also, the team scored 28 points in the paint and 14 fastbreak points.
The third quarter has been an enemy of the Heat in recent stretches. The Bulls ended up outscoring the Heat 34 to 29, but still trailed, with the score being 91-85 heading into the final 12 minutes of regulation.
The Bulls would find life as Ayo Dosunmu scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, finishing with 23 total. He led them to a near comeback with the team sparking an 11-2 run. However, it was too late, as the Heat took the first game of the back-to-back-to-back series, with a final score of 116-113.
Pelle Larsson made the game-sealing dunk to secure the victory.
Adebayo finished with a second consecutive double-double: 20 points, 12 rebounds, and two assists in 34 minutes. Jaime Jaquez Jr. followed with one of his own, 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in 32 minutes coming off the bench.
The Heat finished with seven total players scoring in double-figures.
Despite a small stint of 12 total minutes, Kel'el Ware finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks, leaving Erik Spoelstra rather impressed.
"Those minutes were good," he said. "The aggressiveness, ball pressure, that was all really good. The fact that he's played 12 minutes isn't any kind of indictment on him."
The Heat improved their record to 26-23, seventh in the Eastern Conference, with the next two matchups, Saturday and Sunday, against the Bulls being in South Florida.
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