The Miami Heat have officially secured a spot in the playoffs after defeating the Chicago Bulls 102-91.
The Miami Heat had a strong start to the game, leading by more than 10 points in the first quarter. By halftime, the lead was cut down to just 5 points, and Chicago made a comeback taking the lead in the 4th quarter. In the end, Miami was still able to finish the game strong, winning by 11.
Best Players for Miami:
Jimmy Butler and Max Strus were the 2 best players for Miami tonight. They both scored 31 points, with Strus scoring 23 in just the first half. Bam Adebayo also recorded an impressive 17 rebounds but only made 1 of his 9 shot attempts.
Jimmy Butler's Stats: Max Strus' Stats:
31 Points 31 Points
3 Assists 6 Rebounds
5 Rebounds 50% of shots made (8-16)
45.8% of shots made (11-24) 58.3% of 3's made (7-12)
Bulls Impactful Player Performances:
In the team's last chance to make the playoffs, Demar DeRozan had a strong performance as usual, however, Zach Lavine played very poorly.
Demar DeRozan's Stats: Zach Lavine's Stats:
26 Points 15 Points
9 Assists 2 Assists
4 Rebounds 4 Rebounds
47.4% of shots made (9-19) 28.5% of shots made (6-21)
2 Turnovers 5 Turnovers
Heat Vs. Bucks:
After defeating the Bulls, the Heat will now play the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. The Bucks ended with the best regular season record in the league and are currently the favorites to win the finals. The Heat and Bucks split their regular season series, each winning 2 games. However, for 3 out of these 4 games, the Bucks' best player Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play more than 6 minutes due to injury. In the 1 game where Giannis fully played against the Heat, he recorded a very impressive 35 points, 11 Assists, and 15 Rebounds.
Game 1 of the Heat vs. Bucks playoff series will be on Sunday, April 16th at 5:30 pm.
