Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat celebrates with Bam Adebayo #13 against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at FTX Arena on February 28, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP
Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent scored 20 points each as the host Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 112-99 in a matchup between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference on Monday night.
The Heat improved to 9-5 without point guard Kyle Lowry, who missed Monday’s game due to personal reasons. Vincent started in place of Lowry.
Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, who scored 18 points, had his streak of consecutive 30-point games snapped at 10. DeRozan finished one game short of Michael Jordan’s franchise record for back-to-back 30-point contests.
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Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 22 points.
Miami extended its lead over the Bulls to two games. The Heat also clinched the season series — winning all three games so far with just one remaining — which gives Miami a tiebreaker advantage over Chicago in the standings.
The Heat, which improved to 21-7 at home, also got 15 points each from Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Despite the loss, Chicago has won six of its past eight games.
However, the Bulls continue to struggle against the NBA’s elite teams. They are a combined 1-11 against the five other teams that started this week with a winning percentage of better than .600: Phoenix (0-1), Golden State (0-2), Memphis (0-2), Utah (1-0), Miami (0-3) and Philadelphia (0-3).
In Monday’s first quarter, Miami got off to a 25-11 start and closed out the period on top, 30-21.
The Heat stretched their lead to 19 points in the second quarter before a 14-2 Bulls run cut their deficit to 49-42 with 3:01 left.
By halftime, Miami led 55-46. Chicago had a 28-16 lead on paint points in the first half, but the Bulls shot just 1-for-13 on 3-pointers while Miami shot 6-for-17 from distance in the opening two periods.
Vincent led all first-half scorers with 14 points, and DeRozan had 13.
The Heat increased their lead to 24 points at 91-67 after three quarters and Miami easily held off Chicago’s charge in the fourth for the win.
For the game, Miami shot 12-for-31 (38.7 percent) on 3-pointers and 20-for-26 on free throws. Chicago shot 7-for-29 on 3-pointers (24.1 percent) and 10-for-15 from the free-throw line.