Coby White is peaking at the right time for the Chicago Bulls, who are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and hold the final spot in the NBA play-in tournament.
White will look to build on a career-best performance when the Bulls visit the Miami Heat on Saturday night.
White scored a career-high 44 points in Chicago’s 125-123 road win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday. He had 17 points in the fourth quarter and finished shooting 16 of 28 from the field, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
“I just wanted to take whatever was given to me,” White said. “They didn’t want me to get off any threes, so they were kind of pressing up on me. The coaching staff did a hell of a job of putting all of us in position where we could succeed. I give credit to my teammates for trusting in me.”
Josh Giddey added 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Chicago, which played without injured Lonzo Ball (wrist), Nikola Vucevic (calf) and Patrick Williams (knee). All three are listed as questionable to face Miami.
The Bulls have turned to White to carry a heavier scoring load, and the sixth-year guard has responded by scoring at least 24 points in four straight games. He scored Chicago’s last nine points on Thursday.
“(White) was in the game,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “Besides the scoring part of it, the leadership, the voice was great. Even when we would get a little frustrated because it was a very physical game, (White) just kept messaging the guys, ‘Just focus on what we can control.’ Even just coming down the stretch, I thought he was a great calming force for our guys and just stayed in it.”
Chicago and Miami will meet for the second time this season after the Bulls won 133-124 at home on Feb. 4.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra is asking for patience with his injury-plagued team, which has lost three of its last four games and holds the No. 7 seed in the East.
Miami began a five-game homestand with a 106-104 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Bam Adebayo had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, whose last three losses have come by a combined 11 points.
“Even with this result, I hope Heat Nation and the fans can really appreciate how hard our guys are competing,” Spoelstra said after Friday’s loss. “And we ain’t going anywhere. We’re going to get this right.”
Adebayo has three straight double-doubles for the Heat, who have used a different starting lineup in five straight games.
Miami played without inured Andrew Wiggins (ankle sprain), Kel’el Ware (ankle sprain) and Alec Burks (lower back pain) in Friday’s loss. All three are listed as day-to-day.
“The good thing is we’re definitely seeing progress in the training room with everybody,” Spoelstra said. “It’s unfortunate with Alec. He’s been doing whatever he could do the last two days, but his back just tightened up. But everybody is feeling better. I’ve been encouraged by it.”
Miami guard Tyler Herro returned Friday after missing one game due to illness and scored 22 points in 39 minutes.
–Field Level Media
