The Miami Heat bounced back emphatically against the Chicago Bulls Sunday night inside Kaseya Center with a 134-91 rout.
The Heat’s win wraps up their rare three-game series, where Miami went 2-1. The 43-point margin-of-victory is tied for the third-largest in franchise history.
There were a multitude of reasons for their dominant win. Miami came out guns ablazin in the first quarter, limiting a Bulls team that scored 125 the night before just 13 first-quarter points. Pelle Larsson, who finished with a team-high 20 points (tying Bam Adebayo), scored 13 in the first quarter alone.
And they didn’t look back. The Heat led by as much as 54 points in their wire-to-wire victory, shooting 50.5 percent from the floor and 14-of-38 (36.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
Larsson connected on eight of his 11 field goal attempts and 3-of-4 from 3-point range, adding four rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal apiece in 24 minutes. Adebayo’s 20 points came in 22 minutes of work on 8-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and three dimes.
Coming off a night where he mysteriously played just three minutes, Kel’el Ware had 17 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 14 points in 19 minutes while Andrew Wiggins had 14 in 24 minutes.
In his first game back after missing 10 with a shoulder sprain, Davion Mitchell scored 13 points — of which came in the second half — with six assists and two steals. You could feel his energy from the opening tip — as with Larsson and Adebayo.
Miami improves to 27-24 with five games left until the All-Star break. Meanwhile, Chicago drops to 24-26.
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My humble take on Giannis. I honestly don’t know how well he would play next to Bam. I mean, sure they’ll make it work. Spo would make it work. But to me they are two sides of the same coin basically (is Giannis taller than Bam, will he do better at C than Bam?). Bam is the better defender, Giannis is the better offense. I’ve always thought to get Giannis probably have to get rid of Bam, but then that wouldn’t happen because based on rumors Giannis wouldn’t want to play at Miami if Bam was gone. Still, are they good to play together? If we give up a whole lot for two players who don’t play well together, do we get a Paul George/Kawhi Leonard Clippers curse situation? OK maybe that won’t ever happen with the Heat but genuinely curious…
They are similar players in some ways. Both can play and do play point , for example. I do think that they can play together. The real question is who can play with them.
We would need shooting around them. So it would be Davion,norman,wiggy,giannis, and bam for starters. That lineup would be a top 3 defensive unit at least, and top 8 offense at least. We’re already top tier with pace, giannis would add to that with fastbreak ferocity.
I thing Wiggins should be replaced with better shooter, which Heat doesnt have.
Sure, but there defense won’t be as good as Wiggins, plus he shooting a career high 38 percent from 3.
who would have thought? that this was going to be a roasted bull feast. was not able to follow the game but good to see Heat won big
Sure would be nice to get rid of Herro and pick up a healthy Morant with his head screwed on straight. Still need a big.
jas plan b
Ware, 3 white boys (Herro, Larsson, Jakucionis) and 1 half-Mexican (Jaquez) plus 3-4 future draft picks (starting with the 2026 pick) for the Greek Freak? I’ll pass.
I was starting to agree with you but then I thought about it and if that was really the trade, it be a risk because of the draft picks, but I’d do it. We’d still have a really good team left, with Powell, Bam, Andrew, Davion, and Dru. There would be one complication, we’d have to go over the apron to fill out the roster. If Mickey was ok with it, I think we’d have a shot at going far into the playoffs. .
If Arison was ok with going over the cap, Miami would have done it when the quitter was still here.
Who are your bench players under that scenario? Jovic and who?
If Memphis is desperate, they will trade Morant at a bargain price. Teams aren’t exactly champing at the bit to get him.
The Heat needs to find ways to keep their young players and draft picks while acquiring a difference maker. Herro plus expiring contracts should give them the ammo they need.
Yes, Morant would be easier. And I would do your trade for him too. But, with Giannis you have a loyal player who would give you his all. With Morant, nothing is certain. The draft picks and Ware would be hard about the Giannis deal. Even though Jaime and Pelle are good players, you could live without them. But, you also solve the Herro dilemma with either deal, which would be nice.
If the deal above was really the deal for Giannis, we would have to get two more players from other teams and go over the cap as Jovic and Simone and the rest of the bench are not adequate. You’re right, Mickey probably won’t like that. In fact, he has apparently drawn the line on spending and that has also limited our moves. Perhaps, by getting Rozier off the books that will free up some of the money needed to fill out the roster. .
Both are risks. With Giannis you are pushing all your chips to the center of the table and holding your breath. With Morant you are putting in “mad money” (Herro and Fonteccio) and keeping all your assets (young players and draft picks).
We’re back to the optimistic outlook. But, this win is probably just as much about the Bulls ineptitude as about our unquestionably having some high functioning parts to our team. Despite all the ups and downs it has become pretty evident that this years version of mediocrity is closer to being good than last years version.
It is also why, I mostly hope we will be buyers, not sellers at the deadline, although even that isn’t a simple decision because we have several pending contract issues to address as well as having some positions that could be strengthened.
Amongst several impressive aspects of this win was how our defense shut the Bulls so thoroughly down. It was also impressive that we still had plenty of firepower without our best player. OTOH, the Heat need to show they can handle the upper echelon teams before we get too excited.
davs impact was evident.jovics minutes or lack there of were evident..when u have guys that can guard u have a shot if your hitting your shot
Yup, just one game