Chicago Bulls match up evenly with Miami Heat in final play-in game

Wednesday night, the Chicago Bulls came back from a 19-point deficit to defeat the Toronto Raptors in what would go down as the first time a 10th seed has won a game within the NBA’s play-in tournament.

Now, the Bulls have a date with the Miami Heat on Friday night. If they are able to pull off the win, Chicago will enter into a first-round series with a very familiar foe, the one-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

In the game against Toronto, it was Zach LaVine who came alive in the third and fourth quarter, ending the game with 39 points. The most impressive part about LaVine’s game was his aggressiveness, as he got to the free throw line 15 times, making 13 of them.

Speaking of free throws, it was DeMar DeRozan’s daughter who became an instant Chicago legend, forcing the Raptors to miss 18 free throws on the night.

Now, the Bulls face a Heat team coming off an upset loss to the Atlanta Hawks, in a game with some intriguing storylines. Most importantly, these two teams are very evenly matched in terms of overall production.

The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat were two very similar teams, overall, throughout the regular season

When looking at the season, overall, the Bulls finished the year as the no. 5 overall ranked defensive team, holding a defensive rating of 113.16 (the number of points given up per 100 possessions). Meanwhile, Miami ended the year with a defensive rating of 114.4, good for no. 8 in the NBA.

Anytime you have a team led by Jimmy Butler, the former Bull, you’re going to be forced to play good defense. Butler isn’t a guy who allows his teammates to slack off, so his leadership plays a big part on that side of the ball.

Meanwhile, the Bulls have played impressive team defense all season, led by a sure-fire All NBA defensive selection, Alex Caruso. Additionally, since adding Patrick Beverley, the Bulls have had an even bigger edge on defense.

In the loss to Atlanta, Butler’s performance led to a disappointing -10 plus/minus rating. He finished 6-for-19 from the field with 21 points and three turnovers.

LaVine, on the other hand, has gotten hot at the right time. Over the second half of the season, he has been on a totally different level. His ability to take over games has shown up much more frequently, but still, the Bulls could use his aggressive style more and more.

The Bulls swept the Heat in the regular season, winning all three games, and don’t think Miami takes that lightly. This isn’t a game the Bulls should assume anything, but instead, come out fast right away. They cannot afford to dig themselves another large deficit like they did in Toronto, as the Heat are a better defensive team.

The game tips off at 6PM CST on Friday night. We’ll see if Chicago can keep this going.