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The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls will take the court at the United Center on Saturday for an Eastern Conference showdown. Tip-off from Chicago is at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Miami (36-33 SU and 25-42-2 ATS) beat Memphis 138-119 on Wednesday. The Heat, 3-2 straight-up in their past five, are in 7th place in the EC standings.
Chicago (31-36 SU and 31-33-3 ATS) host Minnesota on Friday night. The Bulls, 2-3 straight-up in their previous five, are in 11th place in the EC standings.
Chicago has defeated Miami twice this season: 116-108 on October 19 and 113-103 on December 20. In the most recent matchup, the Bulls won on the road against a shorthanded Heat squad. Chicago used a 30-7 run in the second half to take control of the game and shot 54.8 percent from the field.
Miami earned its first lopsided victory in nearly two months on Wednesday, beating Memphis with a solid all-around performance. The Heat was on, all right, shooting 59.8 percent from the field, including 13-for-29 (44.8%) from three-point range. Miami was also 27-for-33 (81.8%) at the foul line and won the rebounding and turnover battles.
“We put together 48 minutes of Miami Heat basketball — getting stops, running in transition, and sharing the ball,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said.
It seemed like Tyler couldn't miss from midrange ?? pic.twitter.com/Wwn4bQPO0G
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 16, 2023
Jimmy Butler leads Miami in scoring this season. He averages 22.6 points on 52.6 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. A few other players to watch when the Heat take the floor are Adebayo (21.0 PPG and 9.4 RPG), Tyler Herro (20.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 4.3 APG), Kyle Lowry (11.9 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 4.2 RPG), and Max Strus (11.7 PPG).
Miami averages 109.1 points per game (30th) and shoots 45.6 percent from the field (27th), including 33.9 percent from three-point range (27th). The Heat convert 83.1 percent of their free-throw attempts (2nd) and average 40.9 rebounds (27th) with a -1.2 rebounding margin. They're 25th in offensive rating, 26th in effective field goal percentage (52.4%), and 29th in pace, per Dunks and Threes.
The Heat surrender 109.6 points per game on defense (2nd), and their opponents shoot 47.9 percent from the floor (22nd) with a 36.8 shooting percentage from long range (21st). Miami is 7th in defensive rating and 22nd in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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