Heat eliminate Bulls 102-91, will face Bucks in Round 1 of NBA Playoffs
MIAMI - Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Miami Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game Friday night.
Tyler Herro added 12 points and Bam Adebayo grabbed 17 rebounds for Miami, which trailed by six midway through the final quarter.
But Butler scored while getting fouled with 2:17 left to put Miami ahead for good, found Strus for a 3-pointer — his seventh of the night — a minute later to push the lead to five, and Strus sealed it with three free throws after getting fouled on a try from beyond the arc with 40 seconds remaining.
The win gives Miami the No. 8 seed in the East, and a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA's top overall seed, starting Sunday.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists.
Alex Caruso added 16 points, Zach Lavine had 15 but shot just 6 for 20, and Coby White scored 14 for the Bulls.
Chicago got a road win at Toronto on Wednesday to extend its season, but couldn't get the second road victory it needed to make the playoffs.
The Heat led by 14 in the first quarter, held as much as a 10-point lead in the third quarter, then found themselves down by six with 7:12 remaining.
A 9-3 spurt over the next 2 minutes — Butler had seven of the points, Strus had the other two — pulled the Heat into a tie, and into the all-too-familiar territory.
The NBA defines clutch games as those that are within five points or less in the final 5 minutes, and the Heat played a league-high 54 of them during the regular season.
Maybe it prepared them for this moment. White made a 3-pointer with 3:47 left to put the Bulls up 90-87.
The score the rest of the way: Heat 15, Bulls 1.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Chicago was a combined 13-1 this season against Miami, Detroit, Portland, Utah and Dallas.
The Bulls didn't trail Miami by more than nine in any of the three regular-season matchups between the teams.
Nikola Vucevic had 12 points.
Heat: Strus had 14 points in the first quarter, matching the seventh-best scoring effort in any quarter of his career.
This was the 21st Heat team to finish a regular season with a winning record; they were 44-38. All 21 have made the playoffs.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Heat and Bucks split four meetings this season, both going 2-0 at home.
Butler averaged 22 points per game to lead all players in the season series. Adebayo and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo both averaged 19.5, and Herro averaged 19.
BILLY AND UDONIS
It was the final time that Bulls coach Billy Donovan will share a court with one of his college players at Florida, Heat captain Udonis Haslem, who will retire when this Miami season ends.
All of Haslem's NBA and college coaches were at the game, with Erik Spoelstra on the Heat sideline, Pat Riley in the Heat president's box, Stan Van Gundy broadcasting for TNT and Donovan leading the Bulls.
"I'm not surprised about the impact he's had on the community here and I'm not surprised about the impact he's had inside the organization," Donovan said. He also lauded Haslem for prioritizing winning and never leaving the Heat even though he had offers elsewhere "for a lot more money."
UP NEXT
Bulls: Season complete.
Heat: Visit Milwaukee in Game 1 on Sunday.