In what has been an annual tradition, the Miami Heat will head on the road to face the Chicago Bulls in the East play-in for the third consecutive year. It will be the 9/10 seed matchup, as the winner is set to move on to play the Atlanta Hawks on Friday evening to battle for the conference’s final playoff spot.
Miami has gone 0-3 against Chicago during this regular season. However, they have had losing records against them in years past, yet are 2-0 in each of their play-in games over the past two years.
It is reasonable to argue that, on paper, the Heat are sporting the better roster under the better coach in this crucial game.
Still, Miami has had their fair share of problems in holding on for wins against this Bulls squad. In each of those three losses this season, they have came with the Heat blowing second half double-digit leads.
Despite a Miami roster that has the depth necessary to get the job done, their inconsistency has put them in this position.
Josh Giddey and rookie Matas Buzelis have each had offensive explosions against the Heat throughout the year. They should be high on the scouting report, although coach Erik Spoelstra should undoubtedly be trusted upon to get his guys locked in.
Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo’s All-Star caliber efforts are going to be needed to secure the victory. Look for some possible X-factor contributions from some of the Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, Alec Burks and Duncan Robinson rotation crew.
It is unknown whether Spoelstra will opt for a tight eight-man rotation or go nine deep, but Robinson, Haywood Highsmith and Davion Mitchell should all be locks to receive important bench minutes. Additionally, Nikola Jovic (fractured hand) has been upgraded to questionable on the injury report for the first time in months.
Who do y’all got in this win-or-go-home battle? Let us know in the comments!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — QUESTIONABLE
- Pelle Larsson (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE
- Kevin Love (conditioning) — QUESTIONABLE
Chicago Bulls:
- Lonzo Ball (wrist) — DOUBTFUL
- Ayo Dosunmu (shoulder) — OUT
- Josh Giddey (right flexor) — PROBABLE
- Tre Jones (midfoot) — OUT
- Dalen Terry (calf) — PROBABLE
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:
- Josh Giddey, G
- Coby White, G
- Kevin Huerter, F
- Matas Buzelis, F
- Nikola Vucevic, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: ESPN & 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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I’m looking forward to tonight’s game. Part of me wants to see them put a game together like they did recently vs Boston or Golden State. Part of me wants to see this season over with and two picks coming our way in June. Whatever happens, as long as they give everything they have, I’m good with that. Tonight I think we find out who they really are. GO HEAT!!!
I want to win this game and lose the next so we can balance wanting more games and wanting two picks. But I would really hate to lose to Trae and the Hawks. That would be gross.
And sort of agree. I think we have had the Hawks number over the years. If we beat the Bulls, I think we’ll beat the Hawks. Therefore, …………..(no comment).
As I said yesterday, the team that wins tonight’s game should run all over the Hawks. Orlando’s size and defense just might give Boston some problems,
Agree