MIAMI — The Chicago Bulls captured a glimmer of hope for their postseason prospects Saturday night with a 114-109 win over Miami Heat.
Currently ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, the Heat could be one of the teams standing between the Bulls and a path to the first round of the playoffs — after eliminating them in the play-in tournament the last two years.
The Bulls still were missing starters Nikola Vučević (calf) and Lonzo Ball (wrist) in addition to Patrick Williams (knee), a trio that is expected to return within the next week. Yet the Bulls used their speed — and a late-game surge from Tre Jones — to overpower the Heat in the paint.
Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 26 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season. His fingerprints were all over the final quarter — assisting three baskets in the final 3 minutes, 11 seconds, blocking a go-ahead 3-point attempt by Tyler Herro, then sinking a dagger 3 with 16 seconds remaining.
The Bulls rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit to improve to 15-16 on the road despite a 26-38 overall record. They are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference — the final spot for the play-in tournament — and stretched their lead over the Philadelphia 76ers (21-41) to four games.
Here are four takeaways from the win.
1. Tre Jones played hero in the fourth quarter — again.
For the second game in a row, Jones was the hero the Bulls needed in the fourth quarter, which they entered trailing by 11.
Jones had scored only two points before the final frame but rattled off 13 points while missing only one shot for one-third of the team’s 36 points in the fourth. With two minutes remaining, Jones jumped the gap and poked away a Heat pass for a steal at the perimeter, collecting the ball and driving for an uncontested layup to put the Bulls up by two.
“I took a gamble,” Jones said. “It doesn’t always end up well, but lucky enough on that play, it did.”
Two nights earlier, Jones scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic, combining with Coby White to score the entirety of the team’s points in the final frame of the comeback win.
“He’s got the ‘it’ factor,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He really does. He’s just a winner.”
2. Bulls hit 3-point milestone.
The Bulls crossed a historic threshold in Miami with their 1,000th 3-pointer of the season — a franchise first with 18 games remaining. This is a reflection of a radical change in playing style, which has resulted in the second-most attempts from behind the arc in the league.
Still, the achievement came at a dire moment in the Bulls season. Despite relying on 3-pointers to a fault in the early months of the season, the Bulls have struggled to maintain their shooting volume and efficiency after trading away Zach LaVine.
They have dropped to 35.2% shooting from behind the arc since the All-Star break. That trend worsened in Miami, where the Bulls went 11-for-42 (26.2%).
3. Coby White hit a cold snap.
The worst victim of this cold night of 3-point shooting was White, who missed all eight of his attempts.
This isn’t an anomaly for White, who often runs hot and cold from behind the arc. After going 7-for-15 in a career-best 44-point night on Thursday in Orlando, it didn’t come as a surprise when the guard couldn’t relocate his shot in Miami.
But White still managed to create for the offense — especially in the fourth quarter, when he muscled to the rim to score 10 points, including six free throws off three drawn fouls. White’s ability to create despite a poor shooting night from deep was reflected throughout the rest of the Bulls roster, which outscored the Heat 58-46 in the paint.
4. Zach Collins bounced back.
With Bam Adebayo holding down the post for the Heat, the Bulls needed a big night from one of their bigs — and Collins delivered.
After fouling out despite playing only 12 minutes against the Magic, Collins evened out in Miami. Collins was a rare source of stability from deep, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range as he tallied 18 points. And the center kept himself available despite the difficult matchup against Adebayo, who finished with 22 points.
