Heat build 54-point lead, overwhelm Bulls

Alta Sports2 months ago · 89 views

Heat build 54-point lead, overwhelm Bulls image

Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson each had 20 points, and the Miami Heat tied their third-biggest victory margin ever in a 134-91 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night.

The Heat led by as many as 54; before Sunday, their biggest lead this season was 45 at Memphis on Oct. 24. It was Miami’s second-largest lead of the play-by-play era that dates to 1996; the Heat beat Memphis by 60 on March 29, 2024.

The 54-point hole was Chicago’s biggest since a 58-point deficit against Boston on Dec. 8, 2018. The Bulls’ biggest deficits this season were a pair of 41-point games — one against Minnesota on Dec. 29, the other also against Miami on Nov. 21.

Kel’el Ware scored 17 points, Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. each scored 14 and Davion Mitchell returned from a shoulder injury to score 13 for Miami, which played without guard Norman Powell (personal reasons) and Tyler Herro (ribs). Powell was announced as an NBA All-Star selection shortly after tip-off on Sunday, getting that nod for the first time in his career.

Coby White scored 16 points for Chicago, which got 12 from Nikola Vucevic and 10 from Ayo Dosunmu.

Vlad Goldin got his first NBA points for Miami in the fourth quarter — a dunk, where he kicked out his legs as if to mimic the famed Jumpman logo for Michael Jordan’s line of Nike shoes and apparel.

The game completed a very rare instance of teams facing each other three consecutive times in the regular season, something the NBA hadn’t seen since 1972. This was scheduled as a two-game set in Miami; a game that was scheduled to be played in Chicago in January was rescheduled to Thursday, which set up the two-team, three-game, four-night set.

Miami took two of the three games.