Heat earns first double-digit win of season in bounce-back effort vs. Bulls. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 118-100 win over the Chicago Bulls (5-10) on Monday night at United Center to improve to 1-1 on its five-game trip. The Heat (9-5) continues the trip on Wednesday against the Cavaliers in Cleveland (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun):
The Heat’s offense struggled in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls. But the Heat’s offense was the driving force behind Monday’s win over the Bulls.
The Heat shot 50 percent from the field, 17 of 35 (48.6 percent) from three-point range and 17 of 20 (85 percent) from the foul line on Monday to record its first double-digit win of the season.
The Heat finished the win with its second-best single-game offensive rating of the season at 128.3 points scored per 100 possessions, which is dramatically better than the offensive rating of 104.3 points per 100 possessions that Miami recorded in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls.
“Offensively the pace was much better, ball and body movement was better, getting into actions quicker so we weren’t in mud was better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Even when there were some mistakes from that, it just optically looked better, felt better and I think the guys played with more confidence from there.”
After building a 22-1 lead to begin Saturday’s game in Chicago, the Heat again started strong.
The Heat began Monday’s game on a 12-2 run and led by as many as 14 points in the first half. Miami entered halftime ahead by 12 points behind an ultra-efficient shooting display.
And unlike Saturday when the Heat wasted a double-digit fourth-quarter lead, Miami never trailed on Monday.
The Bulls made a third-quarter push to cut the deficit to three, but the Heat responded with a 26-15 run to extend its lead to 14 points with 1:38 left in the period.
The Heat’s lead grew to as many as 24 points, allowing star Jimmy Butler to spend the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
That was a welcome development for the Heat, which entered with the NBA’s second-worst fourth quarter net rating.
Another sign of the Heat’s improved offensive process on Monday: Miami finished with 13 makes from within the restricted area after making just five shots at the rim in Saturday’s loss.
The Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler both contributed quality performances in Monday’s victory.
Adebayo finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals in 30 minutes.
Butler ended the night with 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, six assists and one steal in 29 minutes while sitting out the entire fourth quarter because of the lopsided score.
Butler produced one of the highlights of the game, dribbling into a skyhook with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
“I’ll tell you who was happy about that is Pat [Riley],” Spoelstra said. “Pat always wants our guys to work on the skyhook and he’s not wrong. If anybody can ever develop that the way the original Captain (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) did it, it’s an incredible weapon. But it just shows you how gifted Jimmy is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him even practice that and it looked so fluid and smooth.”
While taking the shot, Butler yelled “skyhook” toward the Heat’s bench.
“I just had to let everybody know that that’s the shot that I was going to do and there was nothing that anybody could do about it,” Butler said with a grin. “I made my mind up.”
The Bulls shot just 11 of 37 (29.7 percent) from three-point range in the loss, including 0 of 9 in the fourth quarter. Coby White scored a team-high 20 points for Chicago.
Monday’s win guarantees the Heat will come out of this brutal 17-game stretch to start the season, which includes 12 games on the road, with a winning record.
The Heat has won eight of its last nine games after a 1-4 start to the season.
“Sometimes you do have opportunities to get better from tough losses,” Spoelstra said. “We were all very disappointed with how the fourth quarter went the other night. We felt that we were in control for the large part of the game and ended up losing the game. That can humble you.
“It’s really the approach after that. I thought we had a very professional work practice [Sunday] to try to get better at those things that had been costing us some of these fourth-quarter leads and then a professional shootaround and approach this morning. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but it led to more intention on both sides of the floor.”
After committing costly turnovers late in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls, the Heat limited its mistakes on Monday.
This was a point of emphasis for Spoelstra between Saturday and Monday’s games against the Bulls, and the players received the message.
The Heat only committed 10 turnovers against an aggressive Bulls defense that entered with the league’s top opponent turnover rate (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) this season at 17.2 percent.
This was one of the biggest differences for the Heat from Saturday’s loss to the Bulls, when Chicago scored 17 points off 15 Miami turnovers. During the fourth quarter that the Bulls dominated 34-21 to complete the comeback win, the Heat committed five turnovers.
Those mistakes helped the Bulls score 20 fast-break points on Saturday.
With not as many Heat turnovers to play off of, the Bulls finished Monday’s game with only five fast-break points.
That 15-point gap made a difference.
“We learned a lot from last game and we applied what we learned into this game,” Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. said, “and that’s just a sign of a really good team learning from losses and applying it to the next game and then you see the results.”
Another big difference from Saturday’s loss to the Bulls: The Heat’s bench made a positive impact on Monday.
The Heat’s bench had a rough night on Saturday, but the unit was much better on Monday.
The Heat’s four-man bench rotation of Jaquez, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson and Caleb Martin didn’t produce positive minutes in Saturday’s loss.
Jaquez closed the defeat with a plus/minus of minus 25, Love as a minus 4, Richardson as a minus 26 and Martin as a minus 14.
But it was totally different story on Monday, when the Heat’s bench won their minutes.
Jaquez finished as a plus 24, Love as a plus 17, Richardson as a plus 11 and Martin as a plus 3.
“That group is a major X factor for us,” Spoelstra said. “It just feels much different than last year, and not to compare anything. It’s not about that. But there’s some exponential factors there that we’re just scratching the surface. But you can see the boost that they gave us tonight and then they were able to finish that thing off in the fourth quarter, which they wanted to do.”
The Heat’s best lineup on Monday included three bench players, as the the combination of Kyle Lowry, Love, Butler, Richardson and Jaquez outscored the Bulls by a team-best eight points in eight minutes together.
Jaquez continued his standout rookie season with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 33 minutes. He shot 3 of 4 on corner threes and 4 of 5 from within the restricted area.
“What he brings is something that gives us a totally different dimension to that second unit, which is encouraging,” Spoelstra said of Jaquez.
Love again thrived in his new backup center role after beginning the season as the starting power forward, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting on threes and eight rebounds in 15 minutes.
“They felt a little bit responsible for [the loss] the other night and that wasn’t their fault,” Spoelstra said of the bench unit’s bounce-back effort on Monday. “But that’s just their mentality and their mindset, and that’s why you really respect them and you just know that that unit is going to continue to grow.”
Duncan Robinson continues to thrive as a Heat starter in place of the injured Tyler Herro.
After matching a regular-season career-high with seven assists in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls, Robinson closed Monday’s win with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting on threes in his sixth straight start since Herro went out because of a sprained ankle.
“Tonight it was good to see him uncork quite a few [threes] and that can just change a game by itself when he gets on a roll like that,” Spoelstra said of Robinson.
Robinson has averaged 20 points per game on 50 percent shooting from field and 25-of-51 (49 percent) shooting on threes in his six starts for Herro.
Robinson’s outside shooting is important to the Heat’s starting lineup. And Robinson’s growth as a ball-handler, finisher around the basket and passer has made him a must-play player for the Heat after having an inconsistent role last season.
Herro continues to make progress in his recovery from a sprained ankle.
The Heat said Monday that Herro is out of the walking boot that was required after he suffered a Grade 2 right ankle sprain in the Heat’s Nov. 8 win over the Grizzlies in Memphis.
Herro is set to be re-evaluated this week, two weeks after turning his ankle.
But the expectation is that Herro won’t return during this five-game trip that ends Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. A more realistic expectation is during the Heat’s next homestand that begins on Nov. 28 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Monday marked the sixth straight game that Herro, 23, has missed. The Heat is 5-1 during that stretch without him.
Herro is averaging a team-high 22.9 points to go with five rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from three-point range in his fifth NBA season. This is Herro’s second season as a full-time starter.
This story was originally published November 20, 2023 at 10:26 PM.
