Takeaways from Heat’s playoff-clinching win over Bulls and a look at what lies ahead
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 102-91 playoff-clinching win over the Chicago Bulls in an elimination game on Friday night at Kaseya Center as part of the NBA’s play-in tournament. The Heat advances to the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed to take on the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, with Game 1 on Sunday (5:30 p.m., TNT and Bally Sports Sun):
On a day when Jimmy Butler was named one of the three finalists for the NBA’s inaugural Clutch Player of Year award, he delivered in the clutch to lead the Heat to the postseason.
“Our team has not been perfect this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following the win just three days after Miami lost its first-play in game on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks. “But I know one thing about the men in that locker room. I know how categorically and unequivocally our group wanted to get into this damn thing, to get into the playoffs and have an opportunity to compete for a damn title.”
The Heat trailed by six points with 7:12 left in Friday’s fourth quarter with its season on the line.
That’s when Butler took over, leading Miami on a 26-9 run to close the game and rally for the playoff-clinching win. Butler totaled 13 points and two assists during this game-deciding stretch.
Each of Butler’s four made field goals during the run came from inside the paint.
“He just willed it down the stretch, getting to the basket, the and-ones, setting Max [Strus] up for the three free throws,” Spoelstra said of Butler. “That’s part of Jimmy’s greatness, that he can adapt based on what’s needed in the game.”
Butler finished with a game-high 31 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in a season-high 43 minutes.
Before Butler’s heroics, it looked like the Heat was on its way to missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
The Heat was shooting just 35.5% from the field and 8 of 25 (32%) from three-point range entering the fourth quarter. But Butler’s 13 points over the final 7:01 helped Miami shoot 10 of 16 (62.5%) from the field and 2 of 5 (40%) from beyond the arc in the final period.
The Heat’s defense also got stronger down the stretch. The Bulls missed their final seven field-goal attempts, scoring just one point after pulling ahead 90-87 with 3:47 to play.
Heat center Bam Adebayo finished with just eight points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from the foul line, but grabbed 17 rebounds, dished out four assists and led the standout defensive effort.
“None of this was happening if Bam wasn’t so electric defensively,” Spoelstra said. “He was traffic-copping everything they were doing. He seemed to be in three places at once.”
While Bulls star DeMar DeRozan finished with 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field, his co-star Zach LaVine was held to 15 inefficient points on 6-of-21 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
Instead of missing the playoffs, the Heat made the playoffs for the fourth straight season and the 22nd time in the 28 seasons since Pat Riley joined the organization in 1995.
“A lot of guys want to be in the playoffs that don’t get that luxury,” Adebayo said. “It’s earned. You don’t take that for granted.”
Strus turned in one of the best games of his career when the Heat really needed it.
Strus elevated his game in the win-or-go-home situation, tying Butler’s game-high with 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, 7-of-12 shooting on threes and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line. It’s tied for the second-most points and tied for third-most made threes Strus has recorded in a game during his NBA career.
Strus was hot from the start, scoring the Heat’s first 12 points. He closed the first half with 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range, which is tied for the most points Strus has scored in any half during his NBA career.
“You’re happy for guys like Max,” Spoelstra said. “They have to go through a lot of different stuff in an NBA season. You can depend on his competitive character.”
Strus’ biggest points of the night, though, came in the final seconds.
With the Heat leading by two, Strus made a three-pointer off an assist from Butler to extend the lead to five with 1:14 to play.
Then seconds later, Strus was fouled on a three-point attempt with 40.7 seconds left. He made each of the three free throws to push the Heat’s lead to eight and help seal the win.
Against a Bulls defense that allowed the second-most three-point attempts in the NBA this regular season at 37.1 per game, Strus’ shooting was important.
The Heat finished just 10 of 30 from deep as a team, and Strus hit seven of them. The rest of the roster combined to shoot 3 of 18 (16.7%) from three-point range.
“Max started off hot and stayed that way,” Butler said. “The work he puts in, it shows. He tries to do the right thing on every single possession. We love him for that.”
On the eve of Friday’s elimination game, Spoelstra hinted at potential rotation changes. But he ended up going with the same group that he has used for the last two weeks.
The Heat opened with its new normal starting lineup of Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro, Strus, Butler and Adebayo.
It marked just the fifth time this group has started a game together this season, with the Heat only recently turning to this group consistently. Miami replaced Kevin Love in the starting lineup with Strus with just four games left in the regular season after Love started in his first 17 appearances with the Heat.
The Heat also went with its new normal bench rotation of Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and Love.
But Lowry left the game with 9:51 to play and did not return. Lowry said following the win that he tweaked his troublesome left knee, but he expects to be able to play in Game 1 on Sunday.
Spoelstra said Lowry will be re-evaluated on Saturday.
Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson and Omer Yurtseven remained out of the Heat’s rotation.
Every player on the Heat’s 15-man roster was available except for rookie forward Nikola Jovic, who remained out with back spasms.
What’s next for the Heat? A first-round playoff series against the East’s top-seeded Bucks.
After clinching the conference’s eighth playoff seed with Friday’s win, the Heat now hits the road to begin a best-of-seven first-round series against superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, who closed with the NBA’s top record at 58-24.
The Bucks have been off for nearly a week since closing the regular season this past Sunday, while the Heat will need to begin the first round less than 48 hours after clinching a playoff spot on Friday night.
“We have great competitors in the locker room and we’re grateful we have this opportunity to line up against them,” Spoelstra said. “This was a pretty harrowing week. Our guys earned this opportunity.”
Game 1 of that series is Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at Fiserv Forum and will be televised by TNT and Bally Sports Sun. The Heat is scheduled to fly to Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.
The schedule for the rest of the Heat’s series against the Bucks looks like this: Game 2 on Wednesday at 9 p.m. in Milwaukee on NBA TV and Bally Sports Sun, Game 3 on Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Miami on ESPN and Bally Sports Sun and Game 4 on Monday, April 24 in Miami at a time still to be determined.
If needed, Game 5 would be Wednesday, April 26 in Milwaukee, Game 6 on Friday, April 28 in Miami, and Game 7 on Sunday, April 30 in Milwaukee. The times and national TV information haven’t been announced for those games.
The Heat posted a 2-2 record against the Bucks this regular season. Both of Miami’s wins over Milwaukee came with Antetokounmpo out because of an injury.
Friday’s win also means the Heat won’t be in the NBA Draft lottery.
The Heat will select either 18th, 19th or 20th in the first round of the June 22 draft depending on a coin flip that will also involve the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers. The Heat, Warriors and Clippers all finished the regular season with a 44-38 record.
The Heat is eligible to trade this year’s first-round pick.
If the Heat would have lost Friday and missed the playoffs, it would have been part of the May 16 draft lottery. But Miami would have only had a small chance of moving up in this scenario.
The Heat would have had a a 0.5% chance of securing the No. 1 overall pick (generational talent Victor Wembanyama) and a 2.4% chance of landing a top-four pick.
But Friday’s win could have cost the Heat six draft slots, as it would have selected at No. 14 in the first round if it would have missed the playoffs and not moved up in the draft lottery. The last time the Heat held the No. 14 pick, it selected Adebayo in 2017.
This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 11:02 PM.
