Heat beats Bulls to advance to playoffs

The Heat season lives. Someway, somehow, the Heat is headed to the NBA playoffs.

Despite shooting 12 for 43 over the second and third quarters, the Heat pulled out of the quicksand and unleashed a 15-1 run to end the game to beat the Chicago Bulls, 102-91, on Friday at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

The Heat rode a terrific fourth quarter from Jimmy Butler and six points in the final minute from Max Strus to advance to the postseason. Miami will play the Bucks beginning with Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Milwaukee (TNT, Bally Sports Sun).

Game 2 will be at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Milwaukee before the series shifts to Miami for Game 3 next Saturday night and Game 4 on the following Monday night.

“Our team has not been perfect this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But I know one thing about the men in that locker room. I know how categorically and unequivocally our group wanted to get into this damn thing, to get into the playoffs and have an opportunity to compete for a damn title.”

The Heat, the league’s lowest-scoring team this season, seemed headed for elimination for a time Friday. That would have been the ultimate embarrassment, losing consecutive play-in games at home.

But Butler scored 13 of his 31 in the fourth quarter and pushed Miami into the playoffs. “He just willed it down the stretch,” Spoelstra said.

Thanks to Butler and Strus, the Heat scored 35 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 20 in the second and 18 in the third.

“I was deadass tired,” said Butler, who played a season-high 43 minutes.

And Max Strus, who tied a career high with 23 points in the first half, hit a huge three to put the Heat ahead 96-91 with 1:14 left. Soon after, Strus then was fouled on a three and hit all three free throws to seal it.

Strus also closed with 31, hitting 7 of Miami’s 10 threes.

Miami overcame a poor shooting night (1 for 9) from Bam Adebayo, who had eight points but was dynamic defensively and on the boards (17 rebounds).

Adebayo was “electric defensively,” Spoelstra said. “He was traffic-copping everything they were doing. He seemed to be in three places at once.”

Tyler Herro scored just 12 but hit a key basket in the closing moments and had eight rebounds and seven assists.

After scoring five points in 20 minutes, Kyle Lowry asked out of the game in the fourth quarter because of a knee injury. Lowry said he expects to play Sunday.

“He took a hit and collided with people,” Spoelstra said. “He says he’s fine. We will re-evaluate tomorrow.”

After shooting 10 for 19 in the first quarter, Miami shot 6 for 17 in the second quarter and 6 for 26 in the third quarter.

That wasn’t a shock, not only because of the Heat’s limitations offensively but also because the Bulls had led the league in defensive efficiency since the All Star break while winning 14 of 23 games, including 8 of 11 on the road.

After the Bulls went ahead 81-75, Butler scored seven points and assisted on a Strus layup to tie the score at 85 with five minutes left.

Fast forward two minutes.

After a three by Coby White, Herro hit a jumper to pull the Heat to within one, and Butler then scored a basket but missed a free throw to leave Miami up 91-90 with 2:15 left.

Strus’ three put the Heat ahead five with 1:14 left, and his three free throws sealed it.

In winning all three games against the Heat in the regular season, the Bulls averaged 114 points against the Heat on 51.2% shooting and 42.6% on threes. Chicago didn’t approach those numbers on Friday, closing at 44% from the field and 29% on threes.

DeMar DeRozan, who averaged 28.3 points against the Heat this season, scored 26. Zach LaVine shot just 6 for 21 on a 15-point night.

After being outrebounded 63-39 against Atlanta on Tuesday, the Heat outrebounded Chicago 24-15 in the first half and 51-37 for the game. Andre Drummond, perhaps the league’s best rebounder over the past decade, changed the game’s momentum in the second half, delivering eight rebounds and six points in 10 minutes.

But Miami regained its edge on the boards when Drummond went back to the bench.

With Strus scoring the Heat’s first 12 points, the Heat rolled to a 29-15 lead before the Bulls unleashed a 15-2 run to close to within 31-30. But Chicago never took the lead in the first half.

Aside from Strus and two baskets from Herro, the Heat’s offense faltered in the second quarter; Miami scored 20 on 6 for 17 shooting in the second with four turnovers.

But Strus scored nine more in the quarter, going to the half with 23 on 6 for 9 three-point shooting. The 23 tied his career high in the first half, and he did it against four Bulls defenders. Per ESPN, Strus shot 4 for 4 in the first half when DeRozan guarded him.

Strus had a three-pointer overturned during a stoppage when the NBA review center in New Jersey ruled he had stepped out of bounds — exactly what happened to Strus in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Strus’ brilliant first half pushed the Heat lead to 49-44 at the half and compensated for shooting struggles from Adebayo (1 for 5) and Herro (2 for 7). To Adebayo’s credit, he pounded the boards in the first half, collecting 10 rebounds.

But everything turned in the third; the Bulls ran off a 16-9 run to take their first lead of the night, 60-58, on a flying dunk from LaVine. A Bulls 8-2 run late in the third quarter put Chicago ahead, 68-67, heading to the fourth. Strus shot 0 for 4 in the third.

But Butler and Strus rescued Miami late. “That’s what my team needed me to do,” Butler said, making a point to praise Adebayo’s defense.

And Strus, an impending free agent, “earned himself a lot of money today,” Butler said.

Spoelstra, after suggesting he might make rotation changes, instead didn’t change a thing. He stuck with the same starters, with Lowry, Kevin Love and Caleb Martin off the bench.

Love gave the Heat a lift with nine points, four rebounds and two assists in 11 minutes. Martin added six points and five rebounds in 27 minutes.