Heat romp in first play-in test in Chicago; with win Friday in Atlanta it’s on to playoffs in Cleveland

CHICAGO — For the second consecutive Wednesday, the Miami Heat put everything they had into a game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

This time, they got it right.

And this time it means one more victory and it’s on to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

Left with little more to show from the regular season than a 37-45 record and 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference, the Heat made the most of their Wednesday night play-in opener, a 109-90 victory over the Chicago Bulls that now sends them on to a 7 p.m. Friday game at State Farm Arena against the Atlanta Hawks for the conference’s final playoff berth.

From the contretemps with and eventual trade of Jimmy Butler to the regression of the games of Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr. to the lack of a foothold by trade-deadline acquisition Andrew Wiggins, many signs pointed to Wednesday at the United Center as a possible end of the road for Erik Spoelstra’s team in 2024-25.

Instead, the Heat will attempt to turn Friday night’s last-chance game in the East play-in round into an opening-round best-of-seven playoff series against the conference’s top seed.

That means either on to Cleveland and a 7 p.m. Sunday Game 1 opening-round playoff matchup against the Cavaliers, or into an offseason of the unknown.

“We’re only halfway there,” Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have the luxury of having the one game and you’re automatically in.”

In getting a needed breakthrough against the Bulls after being swept 3-0 in the season series, the Heat got 38 points from Herro, 20 from Andrew Wiggins and 15 points and 12 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, more than enough to overcome the 25 of Chicago’s Josh Giddey, ending the Bulls’ season.

“We set the intention to come in here tonight and really up the intention and the intensity,” Herro said.

So, so much for the Bulls’ regular-season sweep.

“This,” Adebayo said, “is the bounceback.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat went up 17 early and held a 39-28 lead at the end of the opening period.

The Heat then pushed their lead up to 20 early in the second period while Adebayo was on the bench, as they moved to 8 of 13 on 3-pointers.

The lead was 71-47 at halftime, with the Heat 10 of 18 on 3-pointers at that stage and the Bulls booed off the court as they headed to their locker room.

“The time we were prepared,” Wiggins said. “This time we were ready.”

The Bulls then scored the first six points of the third period, closing within 88-74 at the end of the third.

From there, unlike so many blown leads during the regular season, the Heat regained their footing to the finish.

“Our guys really respected how much they can score and we had some impressive defensive efforts,” Spoelstra said.

2. Herro sizzles: Herro was up to 16 points by the end of the opening period, at 6 of 6 from the field, 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, and 2 of 2 from the line in his 8:54 in the period..

The 16 points tied Herro’s career high for points in a first quarter and tied for the most ever by any player in the first period of a play-in game.

The perfection continued from there, with Herro at 8 of 8 from the field, 3 of 3 on 3-pointers and 4 of 4 from the line for 23 points at halftime.

“It felt like the shots I took were good looks, right in my wheelhouse,” Herro said.

Herro’s first miss came 34 seconds into the second half on a hurried 3-point attempt with the shot clock winding down.

“He’s a great competitor, so he knew he was going to have to bring a lot to this game,” Spoelstra said. “Offensively, he was there, pretty much at every level.”

The previous scoring high by a Heat player was 33 by Kyle Lowry against the Hawks in 2023.

3. Wiggins, Adebayo, too: Stepping up amid concern about the hamstring injury that had him out for most of the end of the regular season, Wiggins moved back into an aggressive bent.

Wiggins not only helped support Herro’s offense, but also was efficient defensively, including taking the initial defensive repetitions against Coby White.

At one point, Spoelstra went with Herro and four defenders, a unit that featured Wiggins, Adebayo, Davion Mitchell and Haywood Highsmith.

For his part, Adebayo kept the Heat afloat on the boards, while also taking the initial defensive assignment against Giddey.

“I thought Bam set the tone at the beginning of the game, just with his energy and his toughness,” Spoelstra said. “Wiggs defensively had some really good possessions.”

4. Up next: The Heat went 2-2 against the Hawks during the regular season, winning the most recent game of the season series 122-112 March 27 at Kaseya Center.

This will be the teams’ second meeting in the play-in round, with the Hawks beating the Heat in the 2023 play-in opener at Kaseya Center.

Herro led the Heat at 24.8 points per game this season against the Hawks, appearing in all four matchups, with Adebayo in those games averaging 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds.

For the Hawks, Trae Young averaged just 17 points on .350 shooting in the season’s four meetings against the Heat, albeit with 49 assists over the four games.

With a Heat victory Friday, it would mean taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round, with the Heat closing 2-1 against Cleveland this season. It would be the first-ever playoff series between the teams.

“The job’s not finished,” Herro said. “We knew what the path was.”

Said Wiggins, “We still got more to do.”

5. Draft implications: If the Heat fall Friday, they will go into the draft lottery as the the No. 11 seed, by virtue of finishing the season with the NBA’s 11th-worst record. That would leave the Heat in the random-but-weighted drawing with a 9.4% chance of moving up to one of the first four draft positions and a 2% chance of landing the top selection.

With only the first four selections determined by the weighted draw, the Heat, if in the lottery, can only exit the process with selections Nos. 1-4 or Nos. 11-14.

The No. 11 seed has a 77.59% chance of remaining at No. 11, a 12.6% chance of dropping to No. 12 and less than a 1% chance of falling to No. 13 or No. 14.

By falling into the lottery, and because of previous trade commitments, it would mean the Oklahoma City Thunder would get the Heat’s unprotected 2026 first-round pick and the Charlotte Hornets the Heat’s unprotected 2028 first-round selection.

If the Heat win on Friday night, it would mean the Thunder would get the Heat’s first-round pick in June, with the pick due to the Hornets reverting to lottery-protected for 2027.

The Heat also hold the Golden State Warriors pick in the June 25 first round of the draft, with that selected to be determined in a random drawing next week for the Nos. 18-19-20 picks.