The Miami HEAT fell to the Chicago Bulls 105-100 Saturday night at United Center. Goran Dragic led the way for the HEAT with 21 points.
1. Dragic Does It All
Despite the loss, Dragic had yet another great performance for Miami. Whether it was tough finishes inside or jumpers off solid screens from Hassan Whiteside, the Dragon usually converted. In short, he was in attack mode all evening and did all he could to try and get the win.
In particular, Dragic went off in the second quarter, as he totaled 11 points and three assists in the period. To no one's surprise, he pushed tempo often and did a lot of damage in transition during the flurry.
For a perfect example of that, let's take a look at a play from late in the second quarter. After Whiteside came up with a defensive rebound with 2:18 remaining in the quarter, he passed it to Dragic and it was off to the races. From there, the Slovenian raced down court, maneuvered past Rajon Rondo and finished the difficult finger-roll inside over Robin Lopez.
In addition to his 21 points on 10-of-19 shooting, Dragic also dished out 11 assists and grabbed five rebounds against the Bulls.
2. Whiteside Gets Things Started
After a tough outing against the Cavaliers, Whiteside made sure to get off to a quick start on Saturday night. In fact, the big fella scored Miami's first eight points of the game thanks to a few quick shots, a slam inside and a nice tip-in. He also protected the rim quite well and came away with a few blocks in the first half.
One of his better sequences of the night came about midway through the second quarter. With 5:52 left in the period, Whiteside swatted Doug McDermott's shot from the left block and Dragic came up with the loose ball. From there, the point guard took it up court and eventually found Whiteside for the alley-oop jam.
Although Whiteside picked up some fouls in the second half, he still made some plays down the stretch, including a key deflection that led to a layup for Dragic in transition that cut the deficit to three with just over two minutes to play.
In all, Whiteside tallied 20 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
3. Welcome Back, J. Rich
Despite missing the past six games with a sprained right ankle, Josh Richardson showed no rust against Chicago. In addition to knocking down jumpers, Richardson also guarded both Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler relatively well. Late in the game, the 23-year-old had a great feed to Whiteside inside, which the center converted to cut the deficit to one with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth.
Richardson finished with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Other Takeaways:
-After a nice outing against Cleveland, Willie Reed followed that up with an excellent fourth quarter on Saturday. The 6-foot-10 center was very active around the rim in the fourth, as he tallied six points, three boards (two offensive) and an assist in the period. When it was all said and done, Reed ended up with eight points, seven rebounds (four offensive) and a block to go along with his aforementioned assist.
Game Note:
-James Johnson (strained right rotator cuff), Luke Babbitt (strained right hip flexor), Dion Waiters (pectineus tear) and Justise Winslow (sore left wrist) all sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will finally head back to Miami for a six-game homestand, which begins Monday at 7:30 PM against the Wizards. Tickets for that game can be found here.
