Coup’s Takeaways: HEAT Allow 39 In The Fourth As Bulls Storm Back With Resurgent OffenseCouper Moorhead
- wgclients01
- Feb 12
- 5 min read
1. The Chicago Bulls may have just traded away their best offensive player in Zach LaVine, but if you only watched this one you would have had no idea.
First shot, first three for Duncan Robinson. Second shot, second three. Good looks for a great shooter. By the first timeout, Miami was up 10-2, Robinson with eight of those plus an assist headed Kel’el Ware’s way for the first of his many lobs. Through the first six minutes, Ware had three lobs and the HEAT were off and rolling, finishing the opening period with 37 points that came about as organically and plainly, in a good run-your-stuff sort of way, as offense has come for Miami all season. They would have liked to be up by more than five at that stage, Chicago having drilled a few late threes though straight-line drives also getting past Miami’s shell, but at the very least the visitors were running what looked like the more sustainable offense.
As the threes dropped in at over a 40 percent clip, Nikola Jovic adding a trio off the bench while Jaime Jaquez Jr. went to work in space as Chicago’s defenders stayed home, Miami’s Offensive Rating hovered over 140 – a number that would be the highest of the season for many teams – much of the second period, only young Matas Buzelis (15 points on 7-of-7 shooting at the break) standing in Miami’s way to a lead greater than the 70-60 advantage they held at the half.
Things slowed down a bit in the third, Chicago making up some ground as Coby White and Nikola Vucevic hit back-to-back triples. Two more threes had the Bulls in front, Miami cold from the outside and the paint scoring slowing down, but the HEAT grabbed the lead right back to settle things down. As Adebayo and Herro dropped in a pair of threes, Miami’s lead was right back to nine just as fast as it had previously evaporated, such is the nature of the outside game these days.
Chicago wasn’t going anywhere, Vucevic giving them an interior presence in the middle of Miami’s zone, the three still falling on both sides, Herro converting three in a row after a slow start. HEAT by nine after three, Chicago hitting nearly half its attempts from the outside.
Much as it looked like an extended run was coming, Miami couldn’t run away with it even after hitting double digits again, the game slowing down and getting a little rugged all around. Buzelis, having the game of his rookie year, couldn’t miss, Chicago within two after a 13-3 run as the HEAT held on thanks to some timely offensive rebounding. Tied up with six to play, Ware responded with a quick-turn-and-find lob to a cutting Adebayo, Miami never running short of answers to Chicago’s shotmaking as their offense grew more disjointed. Only Chicago had been responding all night, too, and a minute later they had the lead again after a Vucevic wing three and a physical drive from White.
Just as he was against the Spurs, Adebayo (23 points on 17 shots) was ready with the touch from the nail, Miami staying attached on his aggression. But Chicago worked its way to the free-throw line and the threes weren’t there for the HEAT when they needed them the most, Miami now down seven with 43 seconds left.
Miami tried to shoot their way back into a chance, but nothing connected and Chicago takes it, 133-124, behind a 39-point fourth.
2. While this is being written before Erik Spoelstra takes the postgame podium, you don’t have to be overly familiar with this team to guess that the focus is going to be on the defense.
Teams tend to coalesce and evolve into something new when a player gets traded so it isn’t apples-to-apples, but for context Chicago’s offense this season has been at its worst (105.1 points per 100) with LaVine off the floor. Tonight, they ran up an Offensive Rating of 129.1. Some of that comes from the natural regular season fluctuations from outside, the Bulls hitting 19-of-41 from deep – Miami was over 40 percent themselves until the final minute – but perhaps the best prism to view this through is that of Bulls rookie Buzelis.
Yes, Buzelis had the kind of night you have maybe once a year, if that, shooting 10-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the arc, and those threes that came in the second half went a long way toward keeping Chicago close enough to eventually make their move. But there were still six other makes from Buzelis, straight-line drives and cuts, that hurt Miami early. And that’s the thing. Miami’s defense is structured to give up some threes – you have to give something up, and they help inside at the risk of leaving a shooter some space – but to also absorb a hot night from a player or a team because they’re containing the paint so well. And the overall issue tonight matched the profile of Buzelis, Chicago enjoying what should be one of their best shooting games of the season but also scoring 58 in the paint, White and Williams and Josh Giddey (24 points on 14 shots) all putting their heads down and getting to the rim. In a game where both teams were shooting well, both benches were scoring (Jovic had 20 on 10 shots, 5-of-7 from deep) and the turnovers were reasonable, it was Chicago’s 12-point advantage in the paint that decided a nine-point loss.
3. The offensive side wasn’t an issue for most of the game, Miami opening with that 37-point first and following it up with 33 in each of the next two quarters. The HEAT were on pace were more alley-oops in this game early on than Chicago had in the entire season (16, after tonight) and their regular actions – pindowns into quick pick-and-rolls, lift handoffs from the corner, etc. – were producing good look after good look.
On many nights, that’s enough for a comfortable double-digit lead. That’s what Miami had early in the fourth, and then the offense got stuck in the mud, just 21 points in the fourth as they shot 1-of-9 from three. With Chicago taking care of the ball and not committing a single turnover in the final period, and the Bulls putting bodies on Ware and Adebayo at the rim to prevent those lobs that had comes so easy earlier one, relief points were few and far between. Adebayo was 4-of-6 in the fourth, trying to drag his team to the finish, but with Herro having an uneven night (5-of-15 for 23 points, six turnovers) the shot creation required to score in the slower, tighter minutes never materialized.
(As an aside here, there were two big-to-big moments of Adebayo finding Ware and Ware finding Adebayo tonight on quick high-low passes that are the stuff of real promise for the future.)
Still, with how well Miami was scoring you can afford a low-scoring final period if your defense is operating as intended. Clearly that wasn’t the case as the HEAT continue to look for the defensive consistency that they’re built around.