The Miami Heat have ended the Chicago Bulls’ past two seasons with victories in the final round of the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
As the play-in-bound rivals jockey for seeding during Wednesday night’s matchup in Chicago, they realize their meeting could precede a rematch next week.
“This is going to be a great night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s all about competition, and it’s going to feel like a playoff game, and that’s fun.”
While Chicago and Miami enter Wednesday with 36-43 records, the Bulls hold the ninth seed by virtue of winning the season series against the Heat.
Chicago has won seven of the past 10 meetings against Miami, including both previous matchups this season to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Chicago prevailed 133-124 at home on Feb. 4 before earning a 114-109 victory in Miami on March 8.
In the play-in tournament, the seventh-seeded team in each conference will host the No. 8 team, while the ninth-seeded team hosts No. 10.
The winner of the 7-8 game will advance to face the No. 2 conference seed in the opening round of the playoffs. The loser of that matchup will host the winner of the 9-10 game for the chance at the eighth seed and a first-round matchup with the No. 1 seed. The loser will be eliminated.
Miami has won seven of its past nine games with Monday’s 117-105 home victory against Philadelphia behind 21 points from Duncan Robinson.
Bam Adebayo (back spasms) missed the game due to injury but is expected to return against the Bulls.
Chicago will have a short turnaround after losing 135-113 at Cleveland on Tuesday. Bulls starters Coby White, Josh Giddey, Kevin Huerter and Nikola Vucevic were out due to rest or injury management.
Patrick Williams paced the Bulls with a season-high 21 points.
While Bulls coach Billy Donovan has suggested Chicago’s inactive list figures to shrink against the Heat, he cited the chance for reserves to get increased minutes against the Cavaliers, who clinched home-court advantage in the East playoffs.
“I thought we competed and I thought we played hard,” Donovan said, “I just don’t think we played to our identity on both ends of the floor. … It was an opportunity for guys to really step up and play and really continue how we’ve been wanting to play all year long.”
The Orlando Magic (39-40) and Atlanta Hawks (37-42) hold the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively. While climbing into the 7-8 game isn’t impossible for either the Heat or Bulls with three regular-season games remaining, a loss Wednesday definitely would dampen those chances.
“We know what’s at stake,” Miami guard Tyler Herro said. “And you never know with these last couple of games where we can end up in the standings. And I think it would be much harder to win two games in the play-in on the road, as opposed to trying to get one at home will help us.”
Chicago is seeking its first three-game winning streak against Miami since the 2022-23 season. The Bulls lead the all-time series 67-64.
–Field Level Media
