The Miami Heat’s season is on the line Friday night as they host the Chicago Bulls in the battle for the eighth seed where the winner takes on the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. It will be Miami’s second game in the play-in tournament after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night.
To say the least, the contest against the 76ers was deflating in a multitude of ways as besides the Heat slipping away a double-digit lead leading to the 105-104 loss, star Jimmy Butler suffered an MCL injury where he is out for several weeks. The season is hanging on a thread as they have their backs against the wall, but these are the situations Miami loves.
“We will do this the hard way,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “That just has to be the path right now.”
Just like last season, the Heat find themselves in the second play-in tourney game with the season on the line against the Bulls as there is a lot of doubt from the outside noise. Again like last year, the Heat will ultimately prevail and come out with the win and prepare for a grueling series against the Cetics as here is how they will do it:
Miami dirtying up the game against the Bulls
The one aspect opposing teams dread when facing the Miami Heat is the type of game they force you into which is a rough and tough, physical outing where you have to earn every shot you attempt. While offense is a huge aspect, it all starts with the defense, but with how good of a two-way player Butler is, can they survive without him?
Even though someone shouldn’t live and die by statistics, they do say that Miami is way more than capable of playing exceptional defense without the star player. In the 22 games he was absence, the Heat had a 112.8 defensive rating which would put them in the top 10 in the NBA, despite the relatively small sample size.
The defense was working wonders Wednesday against Philadelphia where they looked clueless in the first half with the incorporation of the zone and how hard they played them. This time around, they will play more consistently on that side of the floor against the Bulls.
Tyler Herro stepping up for Butler and even Terry Rozier
If there is someone who is confident in the Heat to overcome the immense around of hurdles thrown at them, it’s Butler himself as even though he will be sidelines for multiple weeks, he said the team will “be all right.” Miami has had a continuous issue this season dealing with injuries as they have the fifth most games in the NBA, something that Butler feels they “should be used to it by now.”
“We’ll be all right,” Butler said. “It hasn’t been easy for us all year long. We’ve been playing with guys nicked up all year long, so we should be used to it by now. This is a must-win or our season is over.”
While it is going to take a collective team effort, there has to be key guys that need t0 step in the absence of Butler and also Terry Rozier who is set to miss the game with a neck sprain according to the team’s X (formerly known as Twitter account). The first player would be star Tyler Herro who took up the mantle as the featured scorer Wednesday which ended up in middling results.
He would finish with 25 points and nine assists, but made nine out of 27 attempts from the field in an efficient showing to go along with five turnovers. However, it’s going to change Friday night as Herro will be the explosive shot creator and facilitator that he needs to be, especially since his likely primary defender in Alex Caruso will not be at 100 percent health.
All-Star type outing for Bam Adebayo incoming, plus other key players
The other Heat player that needs to step up has to be star Bam Adebayo who only scored 10 points and collected 12 rebounds in the loss to the 76ers. While there is no doubt that he will be exceptional on defense, he has to be better on the offensive side of the ball against the Bulls big-man in Nikola Vucevic.
Against Chicago this season in two games, he’s averaged 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. This could be the exact right game for Adebayo to show why he is considered an All-Star type of player this season as he finished the regular season averaging 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. will be crucial to a Heat win over the Bulls
If there is another player that has to come out fast and strong, it’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. who has had seen a lot of success when Butler is not in the lineup. The two share a ton of similarities in the game, especially on offense where they see a lot of their success from getting physical and finishing in the paint.
Jaquez averaged 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and three assists per game in the 22 contests without Butler playing which has shown the trust Spoelstra has in the first-year player. While the UCLA product is starting to come out of hitting a rookie wall, Spoelstra even said to ClutchPoints before the first-play in game that because of the healthy roster at the time, “he’s not getting all the usage that he was getting in December.”
“He’s been very poised and I think this last stretch has showed you that he has a capacity to grow and to learn. Early on, I don’t think he was on a scouting report,” Spoelstra said. “And then that changed how to deal with some injuries and missed time. But since he’s been back and got into a rhythm, he’s an improved player. You know, the stats may be different because we have all of our guys right now. He’s not getting all the usage that he was getting in December, but he’s an improved player. You need what what he’s improved at in terms of decision making, passing. his defense, those things you need in the postseason.”
It’s either win or go home for Miami where they could either face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs or sit at home and watch the rest of the playoffs. As always, Heat fans will be on the edge of their seats.
