In a play-in tournament elimination game on Friday night, the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 112-91 to secure the final berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Tyler Herro scored 24 points and was one assist short from a triple-double, while youngster Jaime Jaquez Jr. chipped in 21 points.

 

 

With 16 points from Kevin Love and 13 from Bam Adebayo, Miami wins and advances to play the Boston Celtics again in the previous two East finals. This time, it’s Round 1, and the Heat are heavy underdogs versus the clear favorite to win the NBA championship.

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Whatever. With a 19-0 run in the first quarter, they gained command of the Bulls, and a 14-0 run halfway through the second half eliminated any chance of doubt. For the second straight year, the Heat defeated the Bulls in the final East play-in game, led by Herro’s 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

The Bulls, led by DeMar DeRozan, scored 22 points. Nikola Vucevic contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. For Chicago, which was attempting to make history by becoming the fifth team in thirty-five years to qualify for the postseason while not finishing the season above.500 on a single day, Coby White scored thirteen runs.

The 19-0 run pushed the Heat ahead, converting an 11-6 deficit into an early 25-11 advantage. It also tied Miami’s record for the most points scored in a row this season, which has only happened twice. The spurt, which saw Jaquez and Nikola Jovic combine for 11 points, helped Miami take a 17-point lead after one quarter and extend it to 20 in the second.

It was a hard-fought, gutsy, win-or-go-home night that featured a rare burst of respectable offense.

The Bulls were even colder off the court, so even though the Heat only scored 13 points in the second quarter, they led 47–37 at the half. Chicago went 4 for 5 in the first half and 8 for 39 in the second. The Heat went 8 for 9 in the first half and 9 for 35 in the second.

It was that bad: Miami had intervals of 0 for 8 and 0 for 6, while Chicago missed 14 of 15 shots in a row. However, the Heat had the two huge runs, and they are back in the NBA Finals last season as the eighth seed.

This time, it will be more harder because Boston is a team that won an NBA-best 64 games this season and is probably still bitter after losing Game 7 of the East Finals to the Heat at home the previous year.