For four minutes, it looked like the Chicago Bulls were going to make the Miami Heat regret making public their purchase of flights to Boston on Saturday. But for the remaining 44 minutes of Friday's Eastern Conference Play-In finale, that wasn't the case.
The Bulls started well and took an 11-6 lead in the first quarter, but the Heat fired back with 19 straight points and got the (sparse) crowd going. Things didn't get much better the rest of the quarter as Chicago stared at a 34-17 deficit after the opening frame.
While the Bulls made occasional runs to cut Miami's lead to single digits, at no point did they look like they had the energy left to emerge with a victory on Friday.
Coby White, Bulls Go Cold
The ultimate result was a 112-91 loss, but the game wasn't as close as the score indicated. Coby White, fresh off a 42-point performance on Wednesday, couldn't buy a bucket against the Heat and finished with just 13 points on 5-16 shooting.
The other Bulls weren't much better as the team shot 38% from the floor in what ultimately ended up being one of their worst losses of the season.
Miami, without star Jimmy Butler, got help from their other key contributors. Tyler Herro almost logged a triple-double as he finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Rookie Jamie Jaquez added 21 points, 6 rebounds, and six assists as the Heat cruised to victory.
What's On Tap Next?
With Friday's win, Miami earned the Eastern Conference's eighth seed and a date with the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
As for the Bulls? The conversation starts immediately on what the team's future will look like, and many fans worry it'll be very similar to the group that took the floor this season. Arturas Karnisovas will have to make offseason decisions on whether or not to re-sign DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams.
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