Miami is on their way to Chicago for an exciting first round of the Play-In Tournament against the Bulls! While both teams have faced their ups and downs this season, there have certainly been some standout moments. The rise of Josh Giddey and Tyler Herro is sure to make this matchup a battle, with everything on the line tonight. This game is the one you won't want to miss tonight!
Dalen Terry Probable
Josh Giddey Probable
Lonzo Ball Out
Tre Jones Out
Ayo Dosunmu Out
Kevin Love Questionable
Pelle Larsson Questionable
Nikola Jovic Questionable
With the season hanging in the balance, tonight promises to be an exciting showdown in Chicago! The Bulls are riding high from a strong late-season run, while the Heat have faced some challenges staying competitive towards the end of the year. Despite that, we can still look forward to a solid matchup between these two evenly matched teams!
The Bulls are in a great position tonight! They've really hit their stride since the trade deadline. With Zach LaVine's departure, the younger players have stepped up and taken charge. Coby White and Josh Giddey have both blossomed, showing impressive progress. Together, they’ve transformed this team into an exciting offense that can challenge opponents from all directions. Giddey and White have excelled as effective inside-out players, with shooting percentages of over 37 % from three and 45% from the field. Giddey’s incredible passing skills have been a true game-changer for this team down the stretch. His ability to create opportunities for everyone and attack defenses off the dribble has been essential to their success. Plus, let's not forget about the veteran presence on the team. Nikola Vucevic is having one of his best offensive seasons, with an impressive shooting percentage of 53% from the field and 40% from three. He’s proven to be one of the most formidable scoring big men in the league. Offense truly is this team's forte, and that’s exactly what they'll need to come out on top against Miami!
On the other hand, Miami has seen a fair amount of change as well! Tyler Herro earned an All-Star appearance and played the best basketball of his career. Although things haven't been perfect for him since the All-Star break, he’s had some ups and downs that are a bit reminiscent of his earlier days. Despite that, he’s still been scoring over 20 points per game, which is crucial for Miami right now. With Butler gone, the team has felt the pinch for solid scorers, especially since Bam is having one of his worst scoring seasons. Bam has improved a bit later in the season, but he’s still a ways off from being 100% back to normal.
For Miami to have a shot in this game, they’re really going to need to bring their best scoring efforts. If Bam and Herro can find their rhythm early on, they should be able to keep things competitive. They did a great job of keeping two out of their three games against Chicago close, even if they didn't come out on top. But there's definitely some optimism for Miami tonight! Their defense is stronger than Chicago's, so if they can lock down the middle with Bam and Ware while pushing the guards into jump shots, they might just narrow that scoring gap enough to give themselves a real advantage.
While Miami has shown potential, they haven’t quite matched Chicago's performance this season. Chicago boasts an impressive 3-0 record against Miami. Making it look likely that Chicago will extend their lead to 4-0 over Miami tonight!
Money line: MIA (-108) / CHI (-112)
Total Points: 219
Spread: +1 MIA (-110) / -1 CHI (-110)
With home court and a solid track record against Miami, the Bulls are my choice tonight. The book gives them a slight advantage, but this one will likely be as close as they’re calling it. However, with a better group of scorers and superior momentum coming into this game, the Bulls should be able to walk away with this one handily.
Miami's scoring has seen a mix of highs and lows this year. I’m feeling a lot more confident about Chicago; they’ve been scoring consistently, averaging about 120 points per game over the last month. Plus, they've managed to surpass this line in all three of their regular-season games against Miami, which has me all over the Over line.
With the line so close, you’re better off not leaving things to chance on a 1-point spread and just calling the winner on the money line. Without any other games today to tease this line either, I’d just avoid the spread tonight.
Herro has averaged this line against the Bulls this season. With their postseason hopes on the line, and no other strong scorers on the roster, I expect Herro to get a massive portion of the shot volume. Unless we see Miami change up their strategy and attack the rim with their bigs, Herro should get enough shot attempts to hit this line.
Buzelis has become a key piece in the Chicago lineup. His size and two-way skills have made him a solid addition to the starting lineup. Even though he’s only a rookie, we’ve seen his scoring creep up all season. Averaging over 13 points in March and April, he’s also averaging 18 points against Miami. Considering he’ll probably be able to slip through the cracks against this Miami defense, makes me love this over line tonight.
Ware has truly stepped up as the volume rebound guy for Miami! With Bam playing a bit farther away from the rim, it's great to see how that has opened the door for Ware to become a rebounding machine. Over the last couple of months, he’s been averaging nearly 10 boards a game, and it's impressive how he consistently hits that 9 rebound mark.
Since the beginning of March, Giddey’s ball-handling duties have skyrocketed. He’s become the unquestionable playmaker on this team, and his assist numbers have shot up as well! He averaged just under 10 a game in March and exactly 10 a game against the Heat. Considering he’ll probably be the one collapsing the defense on the dribble, kicking out the shooters, he’ll only need his guys knocking down shots to confidently hit this line!