Heat crush Bulls in group play action |
Dustin Riese
· · 2 hours ago
CHICAGO - Over the years, there have been a lot of teams that could be considered the Chicago Bulls' (8-7) kryptonite, and the Miami Heat (10-6) is one of those teams. After crushing the Bulls in last season's play-in Tournament to end Chicago's season, the Bulls had a chance at redemption Friday as the Heat returned to the United Center for some NBA Cup group play.
When you look at the Bulls' upcoming schedule, they are about to enter a stretch some would call extremely soft, as now would be as good a time as ever to bank some wins. The Heat are the anomaly in that scenario, and with Coby White out of the lineup as he continues to work his way back to full strength from a calf injury, the Bulls were already down one of their best scoring options. Whether White was in the game or not, nothing would have changed the outcome in this one, as the Bulls' offense was shaky at best most of the night, while their defensive issues persisted. All that put together brought some Deja Vu back into the mix as the Bulls fell to the Heat once again, 143-107. The Bulls started strong, jumping out to an 18-11 run in the first six minutes. Jalen Smith played a huge part in the Bulls' early success, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter to keep the offense rolling. Once the Heat started to settle in, they quickly responded, closing the quarter ahead 36-32 as Kel'el Ware led with early buckets and rebounds to finish with a team-high 20 points for Miami. It was in the second quarter that the Heat began to impose their will, outscoring Chicago 34-20 to take a commanding 16-point lead at the half. Things were much worse than that at one point as Miami seized control with a 53-21 run, building a 25-point lead late in the first half. The Bulls went cold at the start of the second quarter, missing four straight shots and only managing one made three-pointer out of seven attempts before the offense started to show some signs of life late in the quarter. The Heat's relentless attacks, including points from Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell, pushed the halftime score to 70-52, with Miami in firm control and had the Bulls looking for answers. Things only got worse from there as Kevin Huerter was ejected in the third quarter, further showing Chicago's frustration on the court. Pair that with another quarter where Miami had control of things 32-23, and it was the Heat building up a 102-75 lead after three. By this point, the game was well enough in hand, and with the second leg of a back-to-back coming on Saturday, the Bulls may have thrown in the towel sooner than they would have liked. Apart from Ayo Dosunmu and his team's high 23 points, and Josh Giddey posting another 19-point, 11-rebound double-double, most of the Bulls' success came from their bench as the rest of the starting five added just 21 points. Jevon Carter was the only other bench player to add double figures, picking up 10 points as he continues to make the most of the minutes he has been given. Knowing that most of the Bulls' bench would be playing the final 12 minutes, Miami capped off an already huge night by putting together its best quarter of the game and scored 41 points over the final 12 minutes to pick up another dominating win. While Chicago has been known for its balanced scoring all season, this wasn't one of those days, as Miami took a page out of the Bulls' book, with eight players landing in double figures. Ware led the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds, with Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell adding 18 and 19 points, respectively. Along with their overall lack of scoring, turnovers were a massive issue for Chicago in this one as Miami forced 18 Bulls turnovers and turned them into 22 points on the offensive end. Chicago also struggled on the boards, especially the offensive side, where the Heat added 15 offensive rebounds for 26 second-chance points.
IOWA HANDS WINDY CITY FIRST LOSS OF SEASON
As if the Bulls getting destroyed by the Heat wasn't bad enough, you had the Windy City Bulls suffer their first loss of the season, falling to the Iowa Wolves 156-128. It's hard to imagine giving up 158 points in a G-League game, but the Bulls did just that on Friday, as their defensive struggles have been evident all season.
Even with the loss, the Bulls had plenty of offensive production with all five starters and seven total players landing in double figures for the day. Leading the way for the Bulls was the rookie Noa Essengue, who delivered a strong 22-point effort on the court. Fellow rookie Lachlan Olbrich chipped in with 17 points and eight boards as those two have proven to be the leaders of this team.
Windy City also saw Kevin Knox drop in 17 points, with Emmanuel Miller and RJ Nembhard 13 points each, rounding out the starting five. One of the bigger standout performances from the Bulls came off the bench with Mouhamadou Gueye adding 16 points and 11 boards to pave the way for the Bulls bench. The Wolves were led by Tristen Newton, who scored 38 points, with Zyon Pullin adding 37. Alize Johnson also chipped in with 28 points, as all but 25 points came from the Wolves' starting five.
