Daily Bulls

After allowing season-high 150 points on Sunday against Minnesota, the Chicago Bulls respond with a win over the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, 113-103. Chicago snapped their four-game losing streak, while the Heat got their four-game winning streak snapped. The Bulls will enter December 21st 0.5 games out of the last play-in spot with a 12-18 record. Miami will fall to 16-16.

Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with team-high 29 points missing only four out of 17 shot attempts and getting 12 rebounds. Demar DeRozan scored 24 points, missing five shots. Coby White struggled shooting but managed to get 14 points.

Chicago’s big three of Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic combined to shoot 65.9% from the field. Vucevic (109.1) and Lavine (113) were top four in defensive ratings. The ratings might not tell much, but if you watched the game Tuesday night, you saw improvement from Sunday.

Lavine responds to call out by teammates

Zach Lavine got called out during halftime and after Sunday night’s matchup by his teammates against the Timberwolves for his poor defensive rotations. He responded quickly with 11 first-quarter points to help Chicago get a double-digit lead. Also, Lavine helped out by forcing four Miami turnovers and rotating to the correct players.

Lavine finished the game with 21 points and seven assists. That includes eight of the 11 points coming during a 13-4 run. Also, he had the best plus/minus on the Bulls with +21. Lavine’s defense improved, and his rotations were better, but the question is, will he give his 100% effort on the defensive end every game?

Heat strong second quarter

During the second quarter, Miami went on a 17-4 run led by Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson. Those three guys combined to score 26 of the Heat’s 36 second quarter, missing only two out of 12 shot attempts. The Heat couldn’t stay hot in the second half against the Bulls, shooting 43.2% from the field. At the same time, they allowed the Bulls to shoot 59%.

Bam Adebayo got his fourth consecutive double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Adebayo has scored at least 20 points in six of the last eight games. Tyler Herro got 19 points and seven assists but struggled, shooting 7-for-16 from the field. Jimmy Butler’s replacement, Victor Oladipo, scored 14 points, only making 4 out of 13 shot attempts. Duncan Robinson added 13 points off the bench for Miami.

Phrase of the night

“Free Cheese”

Like what Chicago Bulls announcer Stacy King says, Free Cheese refers to Nikola Vucevic taking advantage of mismatches in the post. That is by far the biggest strength of this Bulls team because once Vucevic got going, everybody else got involved.

Chicago went away from Vucevic during the second quarter, which allowed the Heat to go on their huge run to get back in the game. But during the second half, Miami started sending double-team, which helped the Bulls make 15 threes and take a double-digit lead. Lavine and Vucevic each made three threes, team-high. The question is whether the Bulls will continue to feed Vucevic in the post to kick-start their offense.

Up Next

Chicago will continue road trip with matchup against Atlanta later today (Wednesday).

Miami will stay home to face Indiana on Friday.

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