Heat ‘let one get away’ in loss to Bulls that snaps seven-game win streak. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 102-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls (5-9) on Saturday night at United Center to begin a five-game trip. The Heat (8-5) continues the trip with another matchup against the Bulls on Monday in Chicago:
The Bulls overcame a nightmarish start to snap the Heat’s seven-game winning streak.
“Either you’re going to come out of the ring like Mike Tyson, or you’re going to come out just kind of bobbing and weaving,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said just a few hours before tip off on Saturday when discussing Chicago’s recent poor starts. “We’ve got to come out [like Mike Tyson]. We have to come out that way, and we have to be able to sustain it.”
The Bulls did not get off to a good start on Saturday. In fact, the Bulls experienced a horrible start to drop its fifth first quarter in the last six games but still managed to close the contest strong to get the comeback win over the Heat and end a three-game losing skid.
The Heat built a 22-1 lead in the opening minutes, as the Bulls missed their first 10 field-goal attempts. Chicago’s first made field goal didn’t come until there was 4:48 left in the first quarter.
But then the Heat went cold, shooting just 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) from the field after a hot 10-of-13 start, as the Bulls fought their way back into the game.
The Bulls used a 30-12 run to turn a 22-point first-quarter deficit into a two-point deficit midway through the second quarter.
The Heat then responded by closing the first half on a 15-7 run to enter halftime ahead by 10 points behind the leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, who scored 30 of the Heat’s 50 first-half points.
The Bulls won the third quarter 28-26, but the Heat still entered the final period ahead by eight points.
That’s when things went wrong for Miami.
After the Heat built a 10-point advantage with 8:04 to play, the Bulls went on a 19-9 run to tie the game with 1:39 to play.
It marked the first tie since the game was 0-0.
Bulls guard Alex Caruso then nailed a three-pointer to put Chicago ahead 97-94 with 51.8 seconds to play. It marked the Bulls’ first lead of the night.
Butler responded by making a corner three-pointer to even the score with 42.7 seconds left.
But on the next possession, Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan hit a tough contested midrange jumper over Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. to put Chicago back ahead by two points with 21.9 seconds remaining.
“The defense was good, but his offense was better,” Spoelstra said of DeRozan’s game-winner over Jaquez.
That proved to be the game-winner, as the Heat didn’t score again.
Butler missed a pull-up three with 12.4 seconds to play and another three-pointer with 6.6 seconds remaining. Heat guard Kyle Lowry also missed a three with 1.2 seconds left.
DeRozan made three free throws in the final seconds after intentional fouls to lead the Bulls to the five-point win. DeRozan scored a team-high 23 points for Chicago, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
“We just didn’t get no stops in the end,” Butler said. “We started out great and we’re known for doing that. Then we let it get easy for them. And they made shots, as they’ve done in the past against us and against multiple other teams. We let one get away.”
Butler finished with a team-high 25 points for the Heat on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.
Adebayo totaled 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line, 10 rebounds and five assists. But Adebayo was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while only put up one field-goal attempt despite playing the entire period.
Chicago closed the game on a 27-12 run after the Heat went ahead by 10 points with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter. The Bulls shot 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) from the field and 6-of-10 (60 percent) on threes and committed one turnover during that game-deciding stretch, while the Heat shot just 4 of 13 (30.8 percent) from the field and 2 of 7 (28.6 percent) on threes and committed three turnovers during that eight-minute span.
“They made shots down the stretch and we didn’t,” Adebayo said. “I feel like we got into a sort of daze, a sort of fog and we lost the game.”
Spoelstra pointed to the Heat’s late-game transition defense as one of the reasons for the loss.
“We pride ourselves on our transition defense,” Spoelstra said. “We got cross-matched, where guys were wide open three times. And they don’t seem like a big deal if you’re up by 10, but those matter at the end when it becomes a possession game. We’ll have to shore that up.”
At the end of the night, the Bulls outscored the Heat 99-73 after falling behind 24-3 in the first quarter.
Saturday marked the Heat’s first loss in nearly three weeks since Nov. 1.
“In the end, we got to be able to get better at holding a lead and finishing up the game,” Heat forward Caleb Martin said.
The Heat’s offense was not good on Saturday.
Days after posting a season-best offensive rating of 131.2 points scored per 100 possessions in Thursday’s home win over the Brooklyn Nets, the Heat totaled just 97 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field and 12-of-36 (33.3 percent) shooting from three-point range while committing 15 turnovers in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls.
The result: The Heat posted its third-worst single-game offensive rating of the season on Saturday, scoring just 104.3 points per 100 possessions.
The Heat’s worst offensive quarter against the Bulls came in the fourth, when it scored 21 points on 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) shooting from the field despite efficient 5-of-10 shooting on threes.
“A couple turnovers, a couple possessions where they flattened us out,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s late-game offensive issues on Saturday. “You do have to credit their defense. They have quickness, they’re disruptive a lot like us. So if you’re not doing things with intention, they can make you pay for that. We got buried to the end of the clock two or three times.”
One of the biggest reasons behind the Heat’s offensive struggles was its inability to finish around the rim. Miami shot just 5 of 14 (35.7 percent) from within the restricted area in the loss.
According to Couper Moorhead of Heat.com, the Heat’s five restricted area makes on Saturday are the third-fewest in any game since Butler joined the team in the 2019 offseason.
“You still could win even only scoring 97,” Spoelstra said. “We could have won ugly just by getting some defensive stops and we weren’t able to do that.”
The Heat’s supporting cast has been a bright spot early this season, but the Heat’s bench did not produce positive minutes on Saturday.
With Martin playing in his second straight game after returning from injury, the Heat stuck with the same bench rotation.
In Martin’s return from a 10-game absence due to left knee tendinosis, the Heat went with a four-man bench rotation of Jaquez, Josh Richardson, Kevin Love and Martin in Thursday’s home win over the Nets.
The Heat used the same four-man bench unit on Saturday, but those minutes didn’t go very well.
Jaquez closed as a minus-25, Love as a minus-4, Richardson as a minus-26 and Martin as a minus-14.
In his second game back from injury, Martin finished with five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, two rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes.
“I knew the first couple games were going to be a little frustrating, feel-out games,” Martin said. “But I’m more mad about the impact I brought in the second unit right now. I’m more upset about losing that lead and not really worried about shots falling. That’s going to come as I keep playing. But I got to impact the game better than that.”
With Nikola Jovic and Cole Swider being sent to the G League on Saturday, the list of available Heat players who did not get in Saturday’s game were Thomas Bryant, Orlando Robinson and Dru Smith.
In addition, the Heat remained without Jamal Cain (G League), R.J. Hampton (right knee sprain) and Tyler Herro (right ankle sprain).
The sample size is still small, but it does seem like the three-point shot will be a bigger weapon for Butler this season.
After finishing Saturday’s loss 2 of 6 from three-point range, Butler has now made at least one three in seven straight games.
Butler, who joked this week that he’s trying to shoot 50 percent from three-point range this season, is now shooting 13 of 29 (44.8 percent) from behind the arc this season.
At this pace, Butler would finish the regular season with 82 made threes.
The most three-pointers Butler has made in a season since landing with the Heat is 36 and that happened last regular season.
Butler, who is in his fifth season with the Heat, shot just 26.6 percent on 1.9 three-point attempts per game in his first four seasons with the team.
Next up for the Heat: another matchup against the Bulls in Chicago.
Following Saturday’s loss, the Heat remains in Chicago to take on the Bulls at United Center on Monday night. It marks the first of six times this season that the Heat will play the same opponent in consecutive games — three coming at home, two happening on the road and one split between home and away.
In fact, the Heat and Bulls will do this again in Miami. The final two regular-season meetings between the Heat and Bulls will happen in consecutive games on Dec. 14 and 16 at Kaseya Center.
This story was originally published November 18, 2023 at 10:39 PM.
