3 Heat takeaways from the huge play-in win vs. Bulls

Leading the Heat was Tyler Herro who scored 24 points to go with 10 rebounds and nine assists. Miami rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. also had a superb game as he filled in for Butler and scored 21 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Heat’s victory over the Bulls in the play-in tourney:

A tale of two quarters in the first half

The first half for the Miami Heat was an absolute frustrating one as it displayed an exceptional start to the game where they dominated the opening period, but the offense would lull in the second quarter. Granted, with the team missing their main offensive spark plug in Butler and even Rozier, this was to be expected.

The first quarter possibly brought some false hope, though that could be too reactionary since the Heat were still leading by double-digits, 47-37, by halftime. However, the same situation happened Wednesday where Miami was up big after 24 minutes to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday and it ended in a defeat for the team.

Looking at the first quarter, the Heat scored a total of 34 points led by Jaquez who had eight points and putting on his best Jimmy Butler performance as he was physical driving in the paint. A 19-0 run mixed with the Bulls slog of an offense put the home team in good position as Miami shot 52.2 percent from the field and three of six from deep.

In the second, it was a different story as the Heat only made five shots the whole period out of 20 attempts leading to 13 in the 12 minutes. Two of those made shots came from Duncan Robinson who logged his first minutes since April 7 and made two three-pointers. Just like a lot of this season, the team can’t build off of a huge lead and keeps opponents in games, but the second half can rewrite the narrative.

Miami bringing back the intensity in the second half

The Heat learned their lesson from last Wednesday night as they came back to life in the third quarter and put up a game high 35 points, shooting 52.4 percent from the field and making five of their nine shots from deep. Herro had his best quarter up until then as he scored 12 points.

Miami especially capitalized off of Chicago’s six turnovers as the home team took control of the game from there on out and never looked back. As for the Bulls, it was a massive disappointing effort after gaining a ton of momentum from their first win to the Atlanta Hawks.

It was an electric crowd in the Kaseya Center as the loudest chant heard was the Heat fans saying “WE WANT BOSTON,” which could be something they look back on poorly, but you got to appreciate the confidence.

Heat with short turnaround as they enter the playoffs

Miami makes the playoffs, but at what cost? They now face the Boston Celtics who have looked like the best team in the NBA and they will be without their difference makers like Butler and maybe Rozier depending on how his neck feels. However, there is no doubt the Heat have momentum with all the doubts around him going into Friday night against the Bulls as they handled business despite their team being more healthy.

The season up until this point has been a whirlwind to say the least, and while fans want to still be positive, the outlook looks dark with the Celtics ahead. It’s the matchup everybody wanted since the two teams have had legendary battles in the playoffs like in the past few seasons, even going back to the early 2010s.

On the other hand, this upcoming chapter could be the shortest when looking at where the teams are on paper, especially in terms of health. Leaving it off with a hint of positivity, Miami is in the same boat as last season where they beat the Bulls in the second play-in tourney game to punch into the playoffs where they are massive underdogs against the No. 1 seed. Last season they went to the NBA Finals, will history repeat itself?