Heat beat Bulls to earn 8th seed and 1st-round matchup vs. Bucks
Heat beat Bulls to earn 1st-round matchup vs. Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
MIAMI --- On the eve of training camp, Chicago Bulls executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas said his goal for this season was improvement.
The Bulls didn’t achieve it during the regular season, dropping from sixth place to 10th and from 46 victories to 40. And it won’t happen in the playoffs.
The Bulls failed to qualify, losing Friday night’s play-in elimination to the Miami Heat 102-91 despite erasing an early 14-point deficit and leading by six in the final period.
Jimmy Butler’s scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Heat, who advance to a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Max Strus added 31 points, including a dagger 3-pointer late. He shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc.
The Bulls scored one point and no field goals over the final 3 minutes, 46 seconds following a massive 3-pointer from Coby White, who sank two big ones in the final period. They missed their final seven shots.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists. Zach LaVine suffered through a nightmare game, shooting 6-for-21 with five turnovers. He also had three of the Bulls' final seven misses.
"Everybody was playing their heart out. It was a low-scoring game, high defense, Everybody was just trying to put the ball in the hoop," LaVine said. "It hurts. You try to scratch away and win the game. We didn’t make enough plays. This stings."
Butler scored with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Alex Caruso, who technically had a season-high 16 points but play-in statistics aren't counted, followed by missing a corner 3-pointer.
Bam Adebayo, who struggled throughout, sank two free throws with 1:41 left for a three-point lead. DeRozan split two free throws with 1:33 left.
Strus’ 3-pointer with 1:14 left was massive, pushing the Bulls into scramble mode. LaVine followed with a miss. And then Caruso fouled Strus on a 3-pointer, with Strus making all three free throws for an eight-point lead.
"It just flipped. Nothing went our way," DeRozan said. "Just trying to understand emotionally how much we put into it the second half of the season just to give ourself an opportunity. Dropping the ball this way sucks. This one is going to sting for a couple days."
It seemed fitting that Heat president Pat Riley sat in his typical lower-level seat, watching the proceedings. This rock fight had 90s-style basketball written all over it.
Early on, Caruso and Strus served as unlikely shootout partners.
Strus, the Stagg High School, DePaul product and once a two-way contract signee of the Bulls, scored 23 points with six 3-pointers by halftime. He would’ve had seven but one got overturned and taken off the scoreboard upon video review during a later deadball situation.
Though individual statistics don’t count from play-in games, Caruso matched his season-high of 14 points by halftime. He sank four 3-pointers for the first time all season as the Heat repeatedly sent multiple defenders at DeRozan, leaving Caruso open in rotation.
The Bulls once again trailed by double digits in the first quarter and by 14 in the first half before rallying.
The Bulls now head into an offseason with multiple questions facing management.
Nikola Vucevic will become an unrestricted free agent unless the two sides reach an extension before July 1. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are headed to restricted free agency. Andre Drummond and Derrick Jones Jr. have player options, although Jones Jr. said in an interview he plans to return.
The Bulls still owe the Orlando Magic a first-round pick and will surrender it this season unless it lands in the top-four picks following next month’s draft lottery. The Bulls have an 8 percent chance to keep that pick.
The Bulls do have a chance to still have a first-round pick because the Portland Trail Blazers will acquire the New York Knicks’ pick in addition to their own. The Bulls and Trail Blazers would have to negotiate a loosening of the original lottery protections on the pick owed.
The Bulls need to add shooting and solve the point guard situation, particularly with Lonzo Ball’s future still uncertain.
And then there’s the biggest question of all: Will management determine their core they aggressively assembled has hit its ceiling? Beyond Vucevic’s uncertain future, could they look to trade one of DeRozan or LaVine?
That’s a story for another day. On Friday, the story was this: A team that all season followed high moments with low ones, that struggled with consistency consistently, let a massive opportunity slip away.
It ended their season.
