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The Chicago Bulls put together their best performance in the past two seasons against the Atlanta Hawks in their first NBA Play-In game. Led by Coby White’s career-night, everything they have been trying to accomplish came together.
But that was just one game, and consistent play at a high level has not been the specialty of this group. They now head to Miami for a rematch of last season’s Play-In game with the Heat on Friday night, and will need to conjure up the same magic in order to advance to the eighth seed for the rights to face the Boston Celtics.
Here’s what the Bulls players had to say about the upcoming matchup following their big win on Wednesday.
DeMar DeRozan: “I remember that plane ride home vividly. I know for me that’s one thing that was on my mind realizing we’re going back to Miami. Not to have that same feeling.”
Coby White: “They have a culture. Whoever steps up in his spot, they’re not going to bring everything he does because he’s an All-Star. But Miami is one of those teams that when you play them, you know what to expect. They play hard. They play physical. They don’t quit. They always keep coming and bringing energy.”
Alex Caruso on Jimmy Butler’s impact pending availability: “He’s one of the great competitors this league has. He turns this time of year into his time. If he can’t go, that would be a big loss for them because he’s kind of the head of the snake, the heartbeat for them. But they still have plenty of talented and capable guys who can play.
Ayo Dosunmu: “We know what they do. We know how physical the play. Both teams are hungry for a spot in the playoffs. We know last year we came up short. Now we have another opportunity. We’re going to embrace that and try to make that happen.”
It’s hard to take much away from these previous matchups. Zach LaVine played in the first set and Patrick Williams played in all four. The Heat were without Tyler Herro in all four games, Bam Adebayo only played in two of the games and Jimmy Butler, who is likely to miss Friday’s game, was dominant in all four. He hit a game-winner in their final contest.
The Heat also traded for Terry Rozier after the final matchup between the two teams and moved off of Kyle Lowry in doing so.
We know LaVine and Williams will be out, but Alex Caruso (ankle) is believed to have suffered a “significant” injury, with his status uncertain for Friday’s game.
On the other side, Miami were missing Terry Rozier (neck) in their first Play-In game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Duncan Robinson (back) was available on Wednesday, but did not play. Josh Richardson (shoulder) has been out since mid-February.
Jimmy Butler (MCL) is obviously the big loss. The Heat were 8.0 points per 100 possessions better when Butler was on the court compared to when he was on the bench. Still, the Heat had a 13-9 record without Butler this season.
According to data from Synergy Sports, no team played zone more than the Heat, who went to it on nearly 14 percent of their total defensive possessions. For context, they were the only team that used zone more than 10.1 percent of the time, and one of only four teams to employ that defensive scheme more than five percent of the time.
Bulls average 1.008 points per possession against zone this season, which ranks 21st in the NBA.
The Heat like to throw off tempo by employing zones to close off driving lanes and make teams have to find alternative ways to beat them. The three ways to break a zone are to attack the gaps and kick out, get the ball into the middle of the floor to where the zone collapses around it which opens up spray out opportunities and simply shoot over it.
A couple examples of how the zone can gum up the works:
The Bulls have spent a lot of time practicing and improving their ability to attack closeouts. If DeRozan and Vucevic can get into weak points, draw two to the ball and move off of it quickly, the Bulls will have opportunities to pressure the rim.
They’ll also need to be willing to shoot over the top. The Bulls shot 36.5 percent on 39 three-point attempts per game against the Heat this season, tied for their third-highest output against any opponent.
The Heat’s off-ball movement makes them one of the more dangerous teams. They are constantly putting pressure on your defensive awareness, forcing you to chase them around the perimeter avoiding massive screens from Bam Adebayo.
Without the half-court scoring presence Butler provides, the Heat will no doubt have to maximize their movement shooting to create open looks. Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Terry Rozier (if they can play) are well equipped to elevate and shoot on these actions.
Defending them is difficult, and will be even more of a challenge if Caruso is unavailable. Staying attached and fighting over screens without fouling will require a high-level attention to detail from off-ball defenders. Vucevic will have to be prepared to meet the handoff at the point of the screen to prevent the shot without giving up Adebayo slips to the basket where he can finish or operate as a playmaker.
All season, the Bulls have relied on low turnovers and offensive rebounds to generate as many looks as possible, while attempting to shoot efficiently and get to the free throw line in order to offset the three-point disparity. If they can get higher quality shots with more volume than their opponent, they’ll have a chance to overcome their math issues.
Miami doesn’t make that easy to do. Their defense plays at a top-five level because of its ability to force turnovers (8th), defensive rebound (3rd) and avoid putting teams to the free throw line (4th).
The Heat also prevent transition, which is an area that can give the Bulls offense some much needed momentum. The Heat are 10th in opponent transition frequency and 5th in points per possession allowed in transition.
The Bulls are going to have to be judicious with the ball, match the Heat’s physicality and out-execute them in what projects to be a half-court rock fight between two grind-it-out teams.
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