In what will be a significant clash for the Eastern Conference play-in standings, the Miami Heat are heading back on the road to travel to the Windy City. Each of the Heat and Chicago Bulls are sporting identical records at 36-43 overall.
They are sitting at the ninth and tenth seeds in the East, with Chicago owning the tiebreaker against Miami on the season. The Heat are 0-2 against the Bulls during this 2024-25 campaign— with a much needed bounce back win versus them a goal on the horizon.
Both squads have hit their stride recently in an end of season push, going 7-3 over their last 10 matchups.
Miami is coming off a strong win against the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week, as the Bulls are coming off a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tonight’s game will be the second night of a back-to-back for Chicago.
Luckily, all three of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Alec Burks are now off the Heat’s injury report. However, Andrew Wiggins remains questionable with his lingering hamstring pain.
Can Miami secure their second consecutive win inside the United Center tonight? Let us know in the comments!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Haywood Highsmith (achilles) — PROBABLE
- Andrew Wiggins (hamstring) — QUESTIONABLE
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Kevin Love (personal) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Isaiah Stevens (foot) — QUESTIONABLE
Chicago Bulls:
- NOT YET SUBMITTED.
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Alec Burks, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Chicago Bulls:
- Jevon Carter, G
- Dalen Terry, G
- Matas Buzelis, F
- Patrick Williams, F
- Jalen Smith, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 8:00 PM EST
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network Sun (Eric Reid & John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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Orlando is in as the seven seed. The Celtics are pretty much only playing backups. Orlando is ahead by a lot already.
luka vs dallas
our team fully healthy is gonna be a tough out,when wiggy was scoring 30 and 40 pts we were blowing teams out no squeakers
I think the players actually care about this one. People suggesting resting top players – if so, agree that they should just let Terry go to town and see where the chips lie
I’d say rest Bam, Ty, play small minutes Ware, Mitchell…get the others going. Unleash scary Terry at least let him redeem himself if he can this game
In other words, start the tanking process now?
I don’t see that happening. The Heat mantra is to win if you are able to. Since the hierarchy is still focused on making the playoffs, this is an important game as the #9 team would have home court in play-in game #1. It is also possible they could move into the #8 spot. If that happens, they would have 2 chances to win 1 game to make it into the playoffs.
I still strongly believe that getting a lottery pick would help the team more in the long run. In betting terms, the Heat are at +100,000 to win it all . Okc is +175. Boston +225, Cavs +550. Getting 2, 3, or 6 more wins will not make me feel any better about this season.
Important game? Not really, taking into account most likely final outcome of the season. Its already set in stone, the first round exit or less then that.
But should be a fun game.
Definitely a game to tune in for. It may not mean that much to the rest of the nba, but for us it’s another test for our newly meshing and improved team of late. And for Chicago, it’s a chance to play a somewhat important game after years of irrelevance. Wouldn’t be shocked if we won this one, but either way, should be pretty close.