The Miami HEAT face the Chicago Bulls Saturday night at United Center. The HEAT fell to the Bulls 98-95 in their last meeting on November 10. Tip-off is set for 8:00 PM. Television coverage on FOX Sports Sun begins at 7:30 PM. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: Is there anything to take out of Miami's loss in Cleveland or is it just one of those games to accept and move on from?
Couper Moorhead: There's not much to dig in to here. Sometimes you run up against the defending champs, on the road, with much of your roster injured in the midst of four-games in five nights. In the bigger picture, the HEAT need to find a way to get their defense back to where it was earlier in the season, but as far as this game goes the Cavaliers had all three of their star players playing like stars. For any team having any sort of season, the season brings you this kind of night.
Joe Beguiristain: There isn't really much to glean from Friday night. The Cavs' big three played very well and made things tough on the HEAT all evening. That said, Miami did all it could with just eight available players, five of which scored in double-figures.
In particular, Derrick Williams and Tyler Johnson provided a spark off the bench. Williams relentlessly attacked the basket, while Johnson tried his best to get the HEAT out in transition whenever the opportunity presented itself. While the loss was disappointing, sometimes you just have to live with the results when things aren't going your way, especially against the defending champions.
2: What did we learn about the matchup with Chicago the first time around?
Couper: While the story of that night was Dwyane Wade's return to Miami, it was also a reminder that, after an injury-riddled year last season, Jimmy Butler is still pretty darn good. Butler only made five shots in about 38 minutes, but he got to the free-throw line 10 times and largely controlled the tempo of the game whenever the ball was in his hands.
That game, a three-point loss, was also a reminder that despite Derrick Rose being the biggest name in the Chicago-New York trade during the offseason, Robin Lopez was no throw-in player. While Miami was generally able to score when he was in the game, partially on the strength of 13 made threes, Lopez attacked the offensive boards, made position tough for Hassan Whiteside and made life difficult for Miami's attackers in the lane.
Joe: In that last matchup against Chicago, Hassan Whiteside had his first and only 20-20 game of the season. For a majority of the contest, the 7-footer feasted inside against Robin Lopez and did a lot of damage on the offensive glass. With Whiteside struggling a bit as of late, perhaps he can get back on track against the Bulls.
Otherwise, we learned that Doug McDermott is still a valuable piece off the bench for Chicago. In fact, McDermott scored 13 points in a season-high 32 minutes against the HEAT the last time out. While the 24-year-old sustained his second concussion of the season in the following game against the Wizards on November 12, he made his return on December 8 against the Spurs. With him back in the lineup, Miami has to be wary of his ability to stretch the floor.
3: What's something that has gone well during the current losing streak that could help Miami get a win Saturday night?
Couper: The wins haven't been there lately, but ever since Wayne Ellington returned to the lineup the HEAT have run much more floppy offense – which is essentially when Miami runs a shooter off a series of screen, like they're Ray Allen or Steph Curry, to free them for an open jumper. Ellington being incredibly hot apart from a 2-of-9 night from three against Cleveland has been incredibly helpful in diversifying the offense beyond constant pick-and-rolls, and it hasn't just been Ellington getting in on the floppy action either. Both Tyler Johnson and Rodney McGruder have been in on those sets as well, and its given Miami a weapon they didn't have earlier this season even when the team was closer to full health.
Joe: This is kind of related to what Coup said above about Wayne Ellington running off screens, but another thing that's gone well lately is Miami's ball movement in general. Despite the team's losing streak, there have been some really solid possessions of late where the ball is moving from side-to-side. Case in point: over their last four games, the HEAT is ranked in the top-half of the league with a 58.2 assist percentage. Thanks to that good ball movement, guys like Ellington and Tyler Johnson have been able to light it up from beyond the arc. As long as that continues, Miami will be competitive in a lot of games.
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