The Miami Heat thrusted themselves into being two games over .500 with a win against a young Chicago Bulls team. A day after edging out a win over Orlando, the team traveled up to Chicago and handled business. Despite losing the rebounding battle partly due to the absence of Bam Adebayo, the team dominated in all other facets of the game. Miami has now won 9 of their last 10 games, sitting 4th in the East.
Top Performers
Although the absence of the team’s All-Star center robbed the team of their lead distributor, the group still rose to the occasion. The Heat’s 46.3% shooting percentage blew Chicago’s 37.4% out of the water. Five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler led all Heat starters by totaling 28 points and 8 assists for the night. Former NBA Most Improved Player Goran Dragic added 25 points to provide quite the spark off of the bench. Dragic is now Miami’s new franchise record holder for most 20+ point games off the bench (23). But despite a 30 point effort from the league’s fifth-leading scorer, Zack Lavine, Chicago struggled to score at an efficient rate.
Jimmy Butler on carrying the team for the first 3 quarters and handing the baton to Goran Dragic in the 4th: “I love it… I knew it was Goran’s time.”
Rising Talent
Duncan Robinson continued to solidify his reputation as one of the league’s deadliest shooters, knocking down 5 three-pointers. Without filling up the stat sheet, forward Chris Silva provided a much-needed physical presence in the paint on Friday. The South Carolina product proved to be a formidable obstacle to any opposing player attempting to take an inside shot.
Upcoming News
While Moe Harkless’ name crossed off of the injury report, the team is still awaiting the return of Bam Adebayo and Avery Bradley. The return of these key players will provide an extra boost on a defense that is already rated among the top in the league. Miami will head to Orlando to take on the 14th place Magic on Sunday night at 7 PM. While Orlando managed to gain a hard-fought win against Milwaukee in the recent playoffs, this year’s team is struggling. All-Star Nikola Vucevic has been one of the teams few bright-spots after losing rising point-guard Markelle Fultz to a torn ACL in January.