The playoffs await the Heat.
Strus and Butler each scored 31 points, and the Miami Heat closed the game on a 15-1 run to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference playoff on Friday night.
“Our team hasn’t been perfect this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But I know one thing about the men in this locker room: the last 48 hours, I know categorically, unequivocally, how desperately our group wanted to get into this fucking thing – and get into the playoffs to have a chance to compete for a diploma”.
His reward: the No. 8 seed in the East and a first-round game with the NBA’s top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks starting Sunday.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists. Alex Caruso added 16 points, Zach Lavine had 15 but shot just 6 of 20 and Coby White scored 14. Chicago recorded a road win at Toronto on Wednesday to extend their season, but didn’t been able to get a second victory on the road. make it to the playoffs.
“They’re disappointed,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “When you make that investment from September to mid-April, it’s long. You think a little bit. I think everyone’s disappointed. I think we’ve improved as a group since the all-star break. It would have been nice if we could have found a way to win tonight and continue in the playoffs, but it didn’t go that way.”