The Max Strus game: Chicago native drops 31 points vs. Bulls to advance Heat to NBA playoffs
The Chicago Bulls' season is over and they can thank a native son of Chicago, not to mention a former Bulls player, for sending them packing.
Behind 31 points from guard Max Strus, the Miami Heat eliminated the Bulls in the final game of the East's play-in tournament to reach the NBA playoffs. They will face the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round as the No. 8 seed, with Game 1 scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Strus, who was born and raised in the Chicago area and played for local colleges Lewis University and DePaul University, opened the game on a tear. He score the Heat's first 12 points with four 3-pointers in the first five minutes, and had 14 points by the end of the first quarter.
He wasn't too shabby in the fourth quarter either, hitting a clutch 3 to give Miami a 5-point lead at the 1:14 mark.
Strus' 31 points on only 16 shots (7-of-12 from 3-point range) were one point shy of a career high, and he finished the game with six rebounds as well. Pretty good for a player the Bulls let walk in 2020 after his two-way contract ran out.
"It does feel a little better against them, I'm not going to lie," Strus told TNT's Chris Haynes after the game.
The win is a career highlight for Strus, who went undrafted out of DePaul and spent most of his rookie season in the G League, appearing in only two games for the Bulls in 2019-2020. He found his home one season later when he became the Heat's latest development success story, and has seen his role on the team grow with each season since.
This year, Strus averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, all career highs, while shooting 35.0% from deep.
Strus wasn't the lone former Bull to go off for Miami, though, as Jimmy Butler also had 31 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Surviving the play-in tournament means Butler will reach the NBA playoffs for the seventh straight time and for the 11th time in his 12-year career.
