Tyler Herro scored 38 points, and the Miami Heat dominated the Chicago Bulls 109-90 on Wednesday night to advance in the Play-In Tournament.
Herro scored 23 points as Miami grabbed a 71-47 halftime lead, and the Heat knocked the Bulls out of the Play-In for the third year in a row. They play at Atlanta on Friday for a chance to meet top-seeded Cleveland in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks lost to Orlando on Tuesday.
Herro made his first eight shots and was 13-of-19 in the game. The All-Star guard nailed three 3-pointers.
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Andrew Wiggins had 20 points and nine rebounds. Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and the Heat got payback for a three-game sweep in the regular season.
Josh Giddey had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. Coby White scored 17, though he shot 5 of 20. Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bulls got within 13 early in the fourth quarter, only to get shut down the rest of the way and miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.
Herro set the tone, making all eight shots as the Heat broke the game open in the first half. He was hardly a one-man show, with Wiggins scoring 12 in the half and Adebayo adding 11 points and seven rebounds.
It was 39-28 after the Bulls’ Matas Buzelis stole a pass and pulled up for a buzzer-beating 3 to end the first quarter, waking up the Chicago crowd.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams got a big ovation between quarters when he was shown seated courtside. He signed a football and threw it deep into the stands.
The Heat responded in a big way, going on a 16-5 run to start the second and outscoring the Bulls 32-19 in the second quarter.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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