End of series on the side of Miami, where the Heat saw its series of four victories come to an end, and the same for the Bulls who finally regained the taste of victory after four games. The players of the Illinois franchise knew how to react perfectly after their spanking conceded in Minnesota on Sunday (150-126), led by a DeRozan-LaVine-Vucevic trio who played their role as leaders from A to Z.
The first positive thing was the start of the Bulls and the 4/4 shooting from Nikola Vucevic to start the game. After a hot shot from Zach LaVine on the outside shot and three free throws from Coby White to end the period, Chicago thus found itself at +10 at the end of the first quarter (21-31).
Miami was quick to respond, first raising the tone via an 8-0 that turned into 17-4 to go back in front. Alongside an imperial Bam Adebayo (7/7 shooting at the break), the Heat were able to count on Tyler Herro’s two outside missiles and Duncan Robinson’s four to try to stand out. But Chicago held on, relying on a precious Coby White from afar or the explosiveness of a Derrick Jones Jr, formerly of the house, to keep his team in the game at the break (57-52).
The Bulls quickly found the thread after returning from the locker room, passing in turn a resounding 22-5 to reverse the balance of power, this time with the DeRozan-LaVine-Vucevic trio in boss mode to bring the mark to 75-65 in favor of “Windy City” (65-75). The hardest part was beginning for Billy Donovan’s troops, who were going to have to resist the pressure exerted by the locals. 3-pointers from Patrick Williams and Goran Dragic led the Bulls to the end of the third quarter with an 11-point lead (77-88).
Once again, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine then Nikola Vucevic perfectly knew how to take turns to ensure a comfortable gap in Chicago until the end. The last two baskets behind the arc of the Montenegrin definitely put an end to the suspense just under 4 minutes from the end (89-108). Winners 113-103, the Bulls will find a little serenity to complete their road trip.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Bulls on a mission. The Chicago players have put all the ingredients to reverse the trend in this match, first with a less permissive defense, and in attack a better distributed threat and outside address (42% at 13/31). After the rise of the Heat, the troops of Billy Donovan did not tremble by regaining the upper hand, then holding on until the end. The Bulls even avoided a tense end to the game thanks to their concentration and application until the end. Basketball sometimes seems simple!
– A third quarter that changes everything. The Heat have been struggling back from the locker room lately. In the previous four games, the Floridians have always lost the third quarter, with a deficit of 26 points conceded in aggregate. Against the Bulls, the same problem repeated itself, Miami got eaten (36-20) and was unable to restart the machine afterwards. A recurring problem for Erik Spoelstra.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The Bulls’ Big Three. Nothing to say about the performance of DeMar DeRozan (24 points), Zach LaVine (21 points) and Nikola Vucevic (29 points) who knew how to take turns to maintain the threat on the opposing defense. Special mention for the pivot, impeccable all along the line, who put his team on the right track at the start and who was there to kill the game for good.
✅ Bam Adebayo. The Heat pivot had an almost perfect match, including his career-best first half in scoring, at 7/7. Difficult to blame him for something since he finished at 12/15 in shooting, with 12 rebounds and 6 assists as a bonus.
⛔️The Heat’s Worst Three. The Florida shooters were pretty wet with the exception of Haywood Highsmith (4/4 from afar). We spare Tyler Herro who finishes just above 35% success (4/11). On the other hand, we cannot say that the Strus-Robinson-Oladipo trio particularly shone in the exercise, between 1/7 of the first, 4/12 of the second, which died out after the rest, and the 2/8 of the third.
THE FOLLOWING
Miami (22-9): the Heat are staying in Florida to host the Pacers this Friday (2 a.m.).
Chicago (11-20): back-to-back for the Bulls, expected in Atlanta tonight (1:30 a.m.).
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