1. It wasn’t always pretty, but the most important thing that happened tonight was that the HEAT, without Jimmy Butler or Terry Rozier, won the game they had to win to extend their season.
Early lead for Chicago in what wasn’t even a slow start for Miami, both teams just scoring exceedingly well. After an early barrage of Bulls threes their offense slowed to a crawl – Bam Adebayo drew the early assignment on DeMar DeRozan – and the makes kept coming for the HEAT, Jaime Jaquez Jr. dropping in eight in what was mostly a balanced scoring effort which produced a 19-0 and eventually a 25-11 run. We’ve said it many times this season, but there are shots the HEAT’s defense, all those bodies helping in the paint on drives, are going to give up and most of the time, unless you have elite-tier mid-range talent, you have to hit those shots at an average rate to give yourself a chance. Instead, Chicago’s three-point percentages hovered around 20 percent, good and contested looks both coming, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu getting blocked on layup attempts as only DeMar DeRozan mustered up much of anything inside the arc.
A 34-17 lead after the first quarter eventually ballooned to 20, Duncan Robinson getting some threes to fall in his return to the rotation, but then everything stalled out for Miami. About five minutes passed without a point for the HEAT, Chicago’s on-ball defense plugging a few leaks with only Tyler Herro available to generate and create at volume in pick-and-roll. Chicago had the opportunities. More than a few of them, in fact. But while Miami went cold they missed at least four wide open threes, the lead staying put at 11 at the HEAT danced between a few raindrops. HEAT by 10 at the break, offensive efficiency nothing home to write about for either side, two quarters left for someone to earn the right to go to Boston.
Back to 15 at the first timeout of the third as Jaquez Jr. cruised in for a dunk, Chicago trying to take advantage of mismatches for Nikola Vucevic inside but coming up mostly empty. Miami’s lead could have been more, but the next stretch was all trading baskets, Tyler Herro flipping a behind-the-back pass on the break to Caleb Martin followed immediately by White hitting turbo on the way to the rim at the other end. All Kevin Love post-ups on guards for the next bit, Chicago going with a small-ball lineup but also not offering much help on the mismatch. That Bulls lineup last but a couple of possessions, Andre Drummond coming back in, and soon after Miami was up 20 on a Herro three in transition. A 35-point quarter for Miami in all, up to 40 percent from three as Chicago struggled on both sides of the floor.
All Miami the rest of the way, 112-91 at the end, little to question as travel plans to Boston locked in while crowd chants of “We Want Boston” were most definitely heard. There’s a steep hill yet to climb, but there’s something to be said for taking care of business without your star. This is not a group to stop short, always running through the rope regardless of their positioning.
2. A game after his 25 points on 27 shots performance in Miami’s loss at Philadelphia, Tyler Herro turned in a near-triple double with 24 points on 17 shots, 10 rebounds and nine assists. And here’s the thing, he didn’t play all that differently than he did against the 76ers. Fewer shots were taken because fewer shots were required, a sometimes-porous Chicago defense presenting driving opportunities for Herro’s teammates as he made right play after right play, finishing +32 on the night in 33 minutes.
The point after Philadelphia was that Herro was put in the position, without Butler or Rozier available, to be Miami’s only true high-volume option with the ball in his hands, a role he hasn’t typically played in high leverage situations. He missed his looks against the 76ers – making a bunch late as Miami almost won the game – and made them tonight, reliably able to work his two-man game with Adebayo against the drop coverage of both Embiid and Vucevic. Credit to Herro for responding after a tough night without having to change much to his floor game. And against Boston, you never know, there might be a night or two when 25 shots are what’s required.
A nice night for Jaquez Jr. on top of it all, 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, a couple shoulders- first drives punctuated by timely cuts which ended in dunks. Jaquez Jr. was the primary alternative to Herro the other night in Philadelphia as far as on-ball work, and he too responded with a winning night.
3. The most interesting tactical decision of the night was Erik Spoelstra putting Adebayo on DeRozan from the opening tip. Being one of the best one-on-one defenders in the league, that’s not a matchup you worry about for Adebayo even against one of the league’s best one-on-one scorers. It’s the rest of the defense holding up which decides whether a move like that works out or not.
Let’s just say it worked. Chicago tried getting it in to Vucevic in the post, but the rest of Miami’s rotation did well enough fighting for position, doubling when appropriate and generally keeping Chicago’s center at 12 feet instead of six. Sure, Vucevic missed a handful of makeable hooks and floaters, but that’s the gambit when you move your starting center onto a shooting guard. The disruption to Chicago’s normal offensive flow was enough, the rest of their offense reduced to drive-and-kick threes with the paint packed, and those threes never fell with any regularity (13-of-43 overall) after those first few minutes. Once bench units rotated in Haywood Highsmith was able to take on the DeRozan (22 points on 16 shots, -20) assignment, another matchup with no red flags, and sprinkle in a little zone in the Love minutes and you have your typical defensive HEAT game with a creative flourish from Spoelstra. Miami’s offense may have come back to life after that second quarter lull, but it was on the other end of the floor where they dictated the terms of engagement. The Bulls were perpetually on their heels.