FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Miami 107 Bulls 104 (Bulls: 13-8, 6-4 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls- DeRozan (28 pts) Miami- Vincent (20)
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls- Vucevic (13), Miami- Adebayo (7)
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls- Ball (6), Miami- Adebayo and Lowry (6)
CCI STAT OF THE GAME: The Bulls committed 23 turnovers with Miami scoring 21 points off them.
CCI RECAP: We expected a grind-it-out game and we got one as Miami caused havoc on the Bulls (23 turnovers) as the Heat threw a tight zone defense at the Bulls, who shot 28% from 3-point range.
With Miami's Tyler Herro sidelined, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus stepped up combining for 33 points off the bench.
DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 28 points. Zach LaVine faced quick double teams throughout the game and was held to 16 points. Alex Caruso added 22 off the bench. Lonzo Ball flirted with a triple-double and registered his second double-double game of the season with 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
NEXT: The Bulls host the Hornets on Monday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Houston 146 Charlotte 143 OT: After losing 15 straight games, the Rockets have won two in a row. Christian Wood scored a career high 33 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against his former team.
Phoenix 113, Brooklyn 107: The Suns picked up their 16th straight win. The Suns will try and match their longest winning streak in franchise history Tuesday at home against the 17-2, Golden State Warriors.
Minnesota 121 Philadelphia 120 2OT: Joel Embiid returned after missing nine games because of Covid-19 , scoring 42 points and 14 rebounds. D'Angelo Russell scored 35 points for the T-Wolves.
New York 99 Atlanta 90: The Knicks snapped the Hawks seven game win streak with a huge road win.
Cleveland 105 Orlando 92: Darius Garland scored a season high 26 points. The Magic drop to 4-17.
Washington 120 Dallas 114: Kyle Kuzma scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Utah 127 New Orleans 105: Donovan Mitchell with a 21-7-7 game.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls All In. All Bulls. 365. 24-7. Always a pleasure. Go Bulls!