GAME PREVIEW: Miami Heat’s season comes down to one last Play-In game vs the visiting Chicago Bulls

Miami is 0-3 against Chicago this season.

Game Story:

The Miami Heat had several golden opportunities to get into the NBA playoffs. At one point before the season ended, Miami had sole possession of the 6th seed and was just one single game back of the 5th seed. They settled for the 7th seed and clinched a Play-In berth. It was expected that Miami was ready to suit up for yet another playoff rematch against the Boston Celtics in the first round.

However, the Heat failed to defeat the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night’s Play-In game and now here we are; fighting in one last game to determine if this team can at least sneak in with the 8th seed and play the 1st seed Milwaukee Bucks.

The opponent is now the Chicago Bulls, who will be traveling to South Beach in what will be a win or go home game for both squads. The Heat have struggled severely against the Bulls, they went 0-3 against them this season with all 3 losses being by double digits. The good news is that regular season success doesn’t always translate to playoff wins.

Miami went 3-1 against Atlanta this season and beat them 4-1 in the playoffs last season, even winning 8 of their last 9 games at home against them but still found a way to lose to Trae Young and the dynamic rebounding Hawks team. The regular season matchups go out the window at this point. It could be anybody’s game to win, but the Bulls are going to be going into this one with some confidence.

Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were elite in their Play-In game against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. They then went on to tell media that they feel they “match up well” against the Heat and are ready to battle for this one.

There is just one thing that this Bulls team doesn’t have in this match up; Jimmy Butler. This Heat team has more playoff experience, but more importantly they have the best playoff player on the court in Butler. He is in need of a bounce back shooting wise, as he struggled with just 6/19 shooting in the Hawks game.

If the Heat have any chance of keeping their season alive they need to rely on Butler to come through and lead from the start. The other core guys and rotation players need to find a way to make some sort of impact as well. Outside of Butler, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo the Heat scored 13 points as a team on Tuesday night. That is never going to get the job done.

According to Erik Spoelstra, this game could show a “different” kind of Miami rotation to try and get the job done.

It will be very interesting to see just how different it will look and if any major changes will take place. Such as potentially giving Lowry the start over Gabe Vincent or even inserting Caleb Martin, who is familiar playing with the starters, in the first five for the one on one defense. Lowry is coming off a 30+ point masterclass performance in the last Play-In game.

Expect Miami to come out more aggressive and crisp on the offensive end, and especially in the rebounding department that they got embarrassed in vs Atlanta. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan need to be held in check, if the Heat can alter some of their shots and make them work a bit more it could pay dividends.

Lowry and Vincent who are both listed as questionable should wind up being available and suiting up.

Tonight’s game is nationally televised on TNT.

Injury Report:

Heat

• Kyle Lowry, questionable

• Gabe Vincent, questionable

• Nikola Jovic, out

Bulls

• Lonzo Ball, out

Probable Starters:

Heat

• Jimmy Butler

• Max Strus

• Bam Adebayo

• Tyler Herro

• Gabe Vincent

Bulls

• Zach LaVine

• DeMar DeRozan

• Nikola Vucevic

• Alex Caruso

• Patrick Beverly

ODDS (via FanDuel)

Check the odds out at FanDuel!

Broadcast Info:

Tipoff: 7:00 PM EST

TV: TNT & Bally Sports 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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