Tyler Herro wasted no time heating up. The Heat star came out firing and never cooled off, scoring 38 points to lift Miami past the Chicago Bulls, 109-90, on Wednesday night in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
With the win, Miami advanced to a do-or-die matchup in Atlanta on Friday for the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 playoff seed. The winner will move on to face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.
Herro made his first eight field goal attempts and finished 13-of-19 from the floor, including three 3-pointers and near perfection inside the arc. He poured in 23 points in the first half alone, helping Miami build a commanding 71-47 lead at the break — its largest halftime advantage of the season.
“We felt we shouldn’t have dropped those three [games] throughout the season,” Herro said, referencing the Bulls’ 3-0 sweep of Miami in the regular season. “We’ve felt like we’ve won almost every quarter except one or two in each game. Tonight, we just made sure we finished it.”
Total Control from the Start
The Heat never trailed and led by as many as 25, dominating a Bulls team that had been among the league’s hottest over the final month of the regular season. Miami forced 13 turnovers, blocked seven shots, and controlled the pace from tip to buzzer — no small feat against a Chicago team that ranked second in pace this season.
“They punched us first, and we didn’t respond the way we had to,” said Josh Giddey, who led the Bulls with 25 points and 10 rebounds. “Credit to Miami. They’re well-coached. They’ve been in this position before. We knew what was at stake, but we just didn’t come out with the right mindset.”
Coby White struggled to get shots to fall, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-20 shooting and seven turnovers. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 12 rebounds, but Chicago’s bench contributed just 13 points — a season low.
“We didn’t really have game-plan discipline,” White said. “We thought if we just do what we normally do, we’d be good. But obviously, they’ve got guys that have been to the Finals. They’ve got a head coach who’s one of the best in the league.”
Miami Answers the Call
Herro led the way, but the Heat received key contributions across the board. Andrew Wiggins had 20 points and nine rebounds. Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 boards. Davion Mitchell chipped in 15 points and a team-high nine assists.
“Our guys really respected how much they [Chicago] could score,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “To hold that team to 90 — it’s not an easy task.”
Spoelstra credited his team’s defensive urgency and attention to detail after dropping all three regular-season meetings against the Bulls.
“They have a unique style of play, and they came back on us a couple times late in games,” Spoelstra said. “We took that seriously. This wasn’t something that just happened overnight. I feel like some good things have been building for us the last several weeks.”
Looking Ahead to Atlanta
Miami’s path to the playoffs isn’t over. The Heat will need another road win Friday against a Hawks team that also has play-in experience and will be looking to redeem its loss to Orlando earlier in the week.
“Job’s not finished,” Herro said. “We knew what our path was — two wins on the road. We got one. Now we’ve got to go get the next one.”
If Miami wins, it would mark the franchise’s sixth straight postseason appearance — matching a team record. Meanwhile, the Bulls finished with a 39-43 record for the second straight year and were bounced in the play-in for the third consecutive season.
“This one stings,” Giddey said. “We feel we’re much better than the way we played tonight. But in this format, you don’t get second chances.”
