The Heat escaped the Bulls in Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back despite playing below standard in the half-court and transition. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson and Dru Smith logged two field goals apiece in the fourth quarter, and their poor late-game execution didn’t cost them after allowing the hosts to scrape their way back after being down 10 in the last few minutes.

“We know what we are capable of defensively,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. They held the Bulls to 41.9% shooting in the second half, but it wasn’t so clean.

Their long and short-range accuracy was the story of the first half, but issues have persisted after intermission this season for Miami. The 3-point shooting went cold in the second half, plus they got outrebounded and the Bulls lived at the line.

On top of that, Ayo Dosunmu was Chicago’s only source of offense, getting loose for 15 fourth-quarter points. It was the highest-scoring quarter of his career.

Larsson stripped Coby White in Bulls territory, while up three with _ seconds left, but Norman Powell turned it over, and instantly committed a penalty. He was fortunate it wasn’t a transition take-foul because Chicago would’ve had possession after their two free throws. 

Still, Larsson scored on a sideline inbound too early, instead of running down the remaining seconds. This allowed the Bulls to call a timeout, then get a clean last look to tie, but Coby White missed from 28 feet. 

The Heat won 116-113 and had lots of help from the bench (50 points). It was also their 12th game this season scoring at least 60 points in the lane (9-3).

Takeaways:

• This was the makeup game from Jan. 8 that wasn’t played in Chicago because of the on-court condensation issue. This was the Bulls’ 29th clutch game of the season. 

• Jović played well on defense because he is getting better at throwing his size around. Still, the Heat are a small team, and their potency wanes when satisfied with their work. That was part of the problem in the fourth quarter as they couldn’t guard without fouling and they put themselves in bad positions by turning the ball over five times.

• Kel’el Ware didn’t play the fourth quarter, but he was still the team‘s best shot blocker and deep threat, making three treys. The team went small and conceded six offensive rebounds in the period. He was asked in the locker room about staying locked in after missing four games with a hamstring injury. He said, “Just doing what I can in my minutes. Whatever minutes I get, try to go out there and impact the game, and make it positive minutes.”

• It was another night that Jaquez was the team’s best scoring threat. He logged 19 points on 61.5% shooting, with 10 rebounds, six dimes and zero turnovers. Aside from corner trey, all other shots came from within 1-9 feet because he’s an expert at getting to the body. Keep in mind that he’s making 75% of attempts at close range this season, which is a 7.3% increase from last year.

The Heat crushed the Jazz, improving to 2-2 on their west coast road trip.  They rampaged on the glass and scored at least 140 points (147) for the eighth time this year (8-0).

The Heat had a bumpy start, giving up three backdoor cuts and coughing up two turnovers, but they cleaned things up, and invaded the lane eight times and recovered 10 offensive rebounds. It was all gas, no brakes, and they ended the period ahead by a point. 

They separated themselves by following up with strikes to the body, corralling nine more offensive boards, and even went on a 13-6 run to close the period, while blowing up nearly everything Utah was running. 

They were up 73-52 at halftime and had five scorers in double figures. Brice Sensebaugh subsequently nailed three trifectas in the third quarter, but it didn’t make a dent as the Heat kept their feet on the accelerator. The Heat also started the fourth quarter ahead by 19 and it quickly became a formality as the Jazz never found any answers to slow them down.

The Heat won 147-116, despite allowing 70 points in the lane, which is the the second-most they’ve allowed this season.

Takeaways:

• The Heat outrebounded the Jazz by 29, and set a new season high with 26 offensive rebounds. The previous highest season was 21 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 17. Bam Adebayo (15) and Dru Smith (10) were the team’s leading rebounders against Utah.

• Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakučionis started together. Larsson was affected by two fouls, forcing him to sit in the first two minutes, yet still had a dozen on immaculate shooting by halftime and finished with 20 points on 63.6% accuracy, with two rebounds and three dimes. Furthermore, Jakučionis got the start because of Davion Mitchell’s absence (shoulder), and he scored efficiently on and off the dribble. His best spurt was in the third quarter, logging nine of his 12 points. 

• Jakučionis was accidentally hit by Ace Bailey’s elbow in the temple with fewer than three minutes left. Adebayo and Norman Powell then escorted him to the locker room.

• Myron Gardner is on a two-way contract, yet his energy is infectious, and his hustle bought the team extra possessions. He guarded his tail off, too. 

• This was the Heat’s 11th time this season scoring at least 70 by halftime (73), and they are undefeated on those nights. 

• One thing Utah did exceptionally well is cut nonstop to the hoop. Keyonte George and Bailey did serious damage on these plays, and Jusuf Nurkić set up a good chunk of them.

•  The Heat are the eighth seed, only a half-game ahead of the Chicago Bulls. Both squads will see each other thrice from Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.

Jimmy Butler tore his right ACL, coming down for a pass in Monday’s win over his former team, the Miami Heat, and will miss the remainder of the season, per ESPN. Any chance his crew had of going on a playoff run has evaporated because there’s so much heavy lifting Stephen Curry can do since Steve Kerr has abandoned trust in Jonathan Kuminga, and Draymond Green isn’t a reliable scorer.

Some solace can be taken that an ACL tear is not a career death sentence like it used to be. Yet, Butler will turn 37 in September and already has tons of mileage.

Despite all the problems in Miami or in previous stops, he was totally bought in to the Golden State Warriors. He’d been the best player on all of his teams since 2014-15, when he was age 25, until the trade, so getting over there finally gave him the luxury of being next to someone better than him in Curry.

They closed out the 2024-25 season with a 23-8 record, and defeated the second-seeded Houston Rockets in seven games of the first round. He suffered a pelvic contusion after a scary fall, seven minutes into Game 2, and was exceptional in the close-out match, logging 20 points, seven assists, and eight boards in 44 minutes.

Curry subsequently suffered a hamstring injury in round two against the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending his season, and Butler couldn’t create the same separation. They lost in five outings.

His chance at chasing a title on the Warriors is gone, barring some heist or divine intervention, considering how much of the payroll is owed to him, Green and Curry. There’s also management’s reluctance to trade Green, in large part because he is Curry’s guy, in spite of him not being the same player. Don’t forget that Kerr already said in December that they were a fading dynasty, too.

Next season is the last year on Butler’s contract, but until he’s back, the Warriors don’t have the weaponry outside of Curry to carry the team. Even if Butler re-upped with them on a significantly smaller deal for 2027-28, their margin for error would be tighter because of age.

Although he could win a title as a role player elsewhere. It wouldn’t diminish his résumé because he already stamped his Hall-of-Fame case as a playoff riser with his Miami tenure (2019-2025), leading his team to two NBA Finals and beating five higher-seeded squads between 2020 and 2023.

There’s no doubt that Butler will come back as an impactful, winning player, but this could be it for him as a top dog who gets stronger as the playoffs approach. If that’s the case, that version of him was one of the best players and overachievers of his generation.

The Heat withstood the Thunder in Miami behind their strong rebounding and 3-point shooting.  Bam Adebayo struggled from the inside but lit up the perimeter, and the bench had big-time contributions.

Norman Powell said, “The thing about this team [is that] we can beat anybody or we can lose to anybody. It’s all about our mentality and our approach and being collective…”

They weren’t deterred by a 12-point first-half deficit, and closed the distance with raised intensity on defense, Pelle Larsson scoring thrice at close range, and Myron Gardner, who is on a two-way contract, swishing three treys. They were only down five points at intermission despite shooting below average at 0-3 feet and in the paint non-restricted area.

The Heat subsequently took the lead, but it didn’t last long as Chet Holmgren erupted, making three shots in the square, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the third quarter on jumpers and drive-bys. 

Then they went colder than an ice box in the fourth quarter, as eight lead changes followed. Larsson was their source of inside pressure, tallying three more baskets in the paint on cuts and catch-and-go moves, Adebayo rediscovered his touch from short and long distance, and Andrew Wiggins drilled a right-side 3-pointer to give the crew the final lead.

The Heat won 122-120, setting a new season high in second-chance points (33).

Takeaways:

• The Heat were missing Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro. They were most affected in the half-court, scoring only 83.2 points per 100 plays, which is good enough for the 13th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They still made 20 triples for the fourth time this year, remaining undefeated on those nights. Norman Powell’s drive-and-kick set up Wiggins’ go-ahead triple.

• SGA scored 39 points on 63.2% shooting, and his biggest outbursts came in the first and third quarters.  He picked up the slack for Jalen Williams, who didn’t play after suffering a hamstring injury late in the first half, by scoring 21 points the rest of the way.

• While the Heat led by two with 31 seconds left, Holmgren curled to the right behind SGA’s back screen on a sideline inbound and missed the lob. Alex Caruso also missed a makeable 3-pointer after the Heat doubled SGA on the final inbound.

• Adebayo scored the team’s first nine points and continued, nailing four extra 3-pointers, setting a new career high for makes in a game (6). He recovered 12 rebounds, including six offensive and was the best big man on the court. Additionally, Myron Gardner stepped up, scoring 11 of the team’s 42 bench points.

• The Thunder being the champs had a lot to do with the Heat’s vigor, but it was the first game of the second half of the season, and they played like they were desperate to get back on track. Pushing the pace, the rebounding edge and superior ball protection allowed them to take 34 more shot attempts.

• Kasparas Jakučionis got his second start of his career and fouled out after 26 minutes. He missed most of his shots except for a corner trey, yet had seven assists against zero turnovers.

• Spoelstra accused Ware of playing for himself after Thursday’s loss against the Celtics, yet he was contrite before the Thunder game. He said he didn’t articulate his thoughts properly and that, “I’m fully invested about the opportunity to develop Kel’el…We’re going to give him everything we have to become the player he can become.”