Reliving Jimmy Butler’s game-winning buzzer-beater and takeaways from Heat’s win over Bulls

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 118-116 win over the Chicago Bulls (10-17) on Saturday night at Kaseya Center to avenge Thursday’s loss to the Bulls as part of the teams’ two-game set in Miami, improving to 2-1 during the four-game homestand. The Heat (15-11) closes the homestand on Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves:

Jimmy Butler saved the night for the Heat with a game-winning buzzer-beater after another shaky fourth quarter.

The Heat again played without two starters, as center Bam Adebayo missed his seventh straight game because of a left hip contusion and guard Tyler Herro missed his 18th straight game because of a sprained right ankle.

But the Heat did get forward Haywood Highsmith and guard Josh Richardson back. Highsmith returned after sitting out the previous five games with a lower back contusion and Richardson returned after sitting out the previous two games with a non-COVID illness and then back spasms.

The Heat overcame the absence of multiple starters on Saturday, but the win came with a dramatic finish.

After the Heat entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, the Bulls began the final period on a 31-17 run to rally and take a three-point lead with 3:33 to play.

The two teams then traded baskets until Butler came away with a steal that turned into a layup for Heat guard Kyle Lowry on the other end to tie the score at 116 with 31 seconds to play.

On the next possession, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic missed what would have been a go-ahead hook shot with 14.9 seconds remaining to set up Butler’s game-winning moment.

The Heat opted against calling a timeout after Butler grabbed the rebound following Vucevic’s miss.

“I can’t even say that’s a coaching decision,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of going without a timeout in that situation. “That’s the no-brainer of no-brainers. Tie score, we’ve been in that situation enough, we know where the ball is going to go. I think the entire area code felt totally fine with Jimmy making that final decision.

“If we call a timeout, there probably would have been a different scheme and it probably would have been jammed up, where the likelihood of getting that kind of shot would have been much less.”

So Butler came away with the rebound and calmly dribbled the ball up the court, receiving double screens from Kevin Love and Lowry to get the matchup against Bulls guard Coby White.

With the Bulls not sending an extra defender, Butler took advantage of the one-on-one situation to dribble to his spot and rise up for a step-back 20-foot jumper over White from just above the free-throw line.

“K-Love set a great first screen, Kyle on the second one, I came off of there, get to your spot and shoot your shot,” Butler said.

Butler’s shot didn’t even hit the rim, going straight in as the final buzzer sounded to lift the Heat to the walk-off victory.

“He was just extremely comfortable where he got the ball, got to his spot,” Spoelstra said. “There’s nothing like having a walk-off. I wish I knew what that actually felt like.”

According to Couper Moorhead of Heat.com, Saturday’s shot marked Butler’s second game-winner with less than a second left since joining the Heat. Butler tied LeBron James, Tim Hardaway and Voshon Lenard for the second-most such shots in franchise history behind Dwyane Wade’s three game-winners with less than a second to play.

“Best closer in the game,” Love said of Butler. “You get him in that type of situation, we all know who he is and he showed it again tonight.”

Butler closed the victory with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Anybody can make that shot,” Butler said of his game-winner. “All in all, it’s just really dope to win because wins are super hard to come by in this league.”

This marked the end of a wild game that included big runs for both teams.

The Heat opened the game on a 13-4 run and its lead grew to as large as 15 points early in the second quarter.

But the Bulls closed the first half on a 33-19 run behind hot three-point shooting to cut the deficit to one entering halftime.

The Bulls carried that momentum into the second half, taking a seven-point lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter.

But the Heat responded by closing the period on a 24-6 run to take an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, setting the game up for the eventful final period.

Aside from Butler’s game-winner, the Heat’s offense was the catalyst behind the victory. Miami totaled 118 points on 51.8 percent shooting from the field and 13-of-35 (37.1 percent) shooting on threes while committing just 10 turnovers to post an efficient offensive rating of 129.7 points scored per 100 possessions.

The Heat improved to 5-1 this season when finishing a game with an offensive rating better than 125 points scored per 100 possessions.

Including Butler, five Heat players finished with double-digit points.

Love added 22 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 18 points, Caleb Martin recorded 17 points and Lowry finished with 10 points.

Jaquez finished with double-digit points for the 13th straight game, which is the second-longest such streak for a Heat rookie in franchise history behind only a 15-game double-digit streak from Dwyane Wade in 2003.

Despite the win, Saturday was a continuation of the Heat’s late-game issues. Miami entered with the NBA’s 28th-ranked fourth-quarter offensive rating, 24th-ranked fourth-quarter defensive rating and 29th-ranked fourth-quarter net rating.

The Bulls outscored the Heat 36-27 in the fourth quarter, but those issues didn’t matter on Saturday because of Butler’s walk-off jumper.

The Heat’s defensive struggles also continued in Saturday’s win.

The Bulls carved up the Heat’s defense on Thursday, totaling 124 points on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 14-of-36 (38.9 percent) shooting from three-point range while committing just five turnovers. Chicago also scored 52 paint points with the help of 35 attempts from within the restricted area in the victory, with Miami delivering a sluggish defensive effort on the second night of the back-to-back.

It looked like rest and a few adjustments would lead to a better defensive display for the Heat early on Saturday, forcing the Bulls into five turnovers in the first 7:22 of the game. That’s the same amount of turnovers the Bulls had for the entire game on Thursday.

But after scoring just 24 points and committing six turnovers in the first quarter, the Bulls settled down and again found success against the Heat’s defense.

The Bulls totaled 92 points over the final three quarters while shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) from three-point range during that span. Chicago also committed nine turnovers over the final three quarters.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with a team-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line. Patrick Williams contributed 25 points and White added 22 points for the Bulls.

The Heat’s defense continues to be a concern, as it entered Saturday with the NBA’s 14th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 113.5 points per 100 possessions) for the season and 22nd-ranked defensive rating (allowing 118.7 points per 100 possessions) over the last 10 games.

The Heat won on Saturday despite a bad defensive rating of 127.5 points allowed per 100 possessions, which is Miami’s third-worst single-game defensive rating of the season.

Getting its best defensive player, Adebayo, back will obviously help the Heat. But we’ll soon find out if Miami’s defensive issues extend beyond Adebayo’s absence.

Love caught fire for the Heat in the first half, continuing his encouraging stretch as the Heat’s backup center.

Love scored 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range in his first five minutes on the court on Saturday after entering off the Heat’s bench midway through the first quarter. Love’s four threes in the opening period marked the most threes he has made in any quarter this season.

Love went on to hit his fifth three on his fifth three-point attempt 11 seconds into the second quarter.

Love finished the win with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range. It’s the most points he has scored and most threes he has made in a game since joining the Heat midway through last season.

“Just continuing to have confidence in shooting the ball and letting it go,” Love said after his big performance. “Guys were finding me.”

This is just the continuation of a quality stretch from Love, 35, since taking over as the Heat’s backup center.

The Heat outscored the Bulls by 19 points with Love on the court on Saturday. For the season, the Heat has outscored opponents by 10.6 points per 100 possessions with Love on the court.

Highsmith returned, but didn’t return to his starting role.

Highsmith started in 14 straight games before his five-game absence. On Saturday, he returned but played as a reserve.

Instead, the Heat used the starting lineup of Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Martin and Orlando Robinson on Saturday for the sixth straight game.

Highsmith entered for his first action with 2:27 left in the first quarter and was immediately tasked with defending DeRozan.

Highsmith finished his return with two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field, one rebound and one assist in 14 minutes off the bench.

Whether Saturday’s move to the bench was temporary as Highsmith works his way back into form after missing time because of his injury or more of a permanent switch remains to be seen.

The Heat went with a 10-man rotation on Saturday, playing Jaquez, Love, Richardson, Highsmith and Thomas Bryant off the bench.

“It’s another Swiss Army Knife defender who knows how to fit in with whatever lineup,” Spoelstra said when asked about Highsmith’s return. “He’s really improved in all facets and we saw that early on. And also, J-Rich being out. Him being back just gives us a whole lot more versatility, as well.”

The list of those available for the Heat who did not play included Jamal Cain, Nikola Jovic, RJ Hampton and Cole Swider.

As the Heat begins to get healthier, the schedule is about to get tougher.

With Saturday’s win, the Heat improved to 11-2 this season against teams that entered Saturday with a losing record. But Miami is just 4-9 against teams that entered Saturday with a winning record.

Up next for the Heat is a stretch of games that includes a bunch of games against teams with winning records.

Nine of the Heat’s next 12 games come against teams that currently stand above the .500 mark. It begins Monday against the team with the top record in the Western Conference, the Timberwolves.

This challenging segment of the schedule also includes a five-game West Coast trip that features matchups against quality teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns.

As for Saturday’s game against Chicago, it marked the final regular-season matchup between the Heat and Bulls. The Heat and Bulls split the regular-season series 2-2.