It won’t be the first time that Miami had to take on Chicago in the tourney as in the past two seasons, the team has got the upper hand on them, even once when they went to the NBA Finals in 2023. However, this season is a little different as the Heat traded away Jimmy Butler and have had trouble against the Bulls, losing all three games during the regular season.

Miami is looking to be the first team in the NBA’s history to get through the tourney as the tenth seed which includes winning two road games, one in Chicago and the other against either the Orlando Magic or the Atlanta Hawks. If they were to do that, the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers await in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

Before that though, the Heat have to focus on the pesky Bulls who have given them problems all year, as here are our Heat Play-In Tournament predictions:

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Heat will stabilize the Bulls’ fast pace 

Looking at the struggles against the Bulls, the finger shouldn’t be pointed at Heat star Tyler Herro’s late-game mistake like in the last matchup, but slowing down the game will be crucial. This isn’t a small sample size for Chicago as they are second in the NBA in terms of fastest pace compared to Miami who is the fourth slowest team.

In each of the three outings the two teams had, Chicago played on their terms, resulting in victories and even twice taking control of the game after Miami had double-digit leads. After the Heat lost to the Washington Wizards in the regular-season finale, head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the mindset heading into the play-in game against a fast team like the Bulls.

“I think it was good, the last two games New Orleans, and even tonight, just teams that push it really fast,” Spoelstra said. “It’s a synapse that we have to have on Wednesday night to get on to the next possession and have that mental toughness to do that for 48 minutes every single possession.”

“We’ve had several possessions in the Chicago series where we’ve had shots in the paint, even several made shots that they’ve run out and scored within four seconds. In possession games, that can be the difference. And I felt like in the last game, they’re 27 to 28 in transition to our 15. That was the game. A lot of other things that we can look at, but that separator, if they can get, 12 to 15 extra relief points, that’s tough to overcome, particularly in a one-game setting.”

With that being said, Wednesday will be the contest Miami figures out Chicago and slows the game down to their liking after three games of falling victim to it.

Heat will slow down Josh Giddey

While the Heat will look to slow down the Bulls’ pace in the play-in tournament game, a huge part of that is also maintaining the team’s top stars. Looking at their roster, there’s no doubt that players like Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, Matas Buzelis, and Kevin Huerter come to mind, but the one that has hurt Miami the most this season has been Josh Giddey.

How good has Giddey been against the Heat? He’s averaged a triple-double with 26 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 10 assists per game while shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from deep. Coming off an underwhelming last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he’s made an immediate impact with the Bulls.

However, expect Miami to throw their toughest defenders on him to keep him off-base which will be mandatory as his play leads to the efficiency of the fast-paced play. Even looking at last Wednesday against Chicago, the opponents scored 25 points on fastbreak, something that even Herro said one team “can’t really prepare for it.”

“You can’t really prepare for it,” Herro said. “We talked about it all morning and you don’t really feel it until you get into the game and how fast they get that ball out after makes and misses, just getting the ball up the floor.”

With the amount of film on tape, it won’t be easy to out-coach Spoelstra and the Heat a fourth time around.

Heat’s Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo combine for 50-plus points 

Besides countering Chicago’s fast pace, Heat’s Bam Adebayo and Herro have to have a commanding game on Wednesday night to lead the team to victory. While such stars as Andrew Wiggins and Kel’el Ware will also be vital among other role players, those two are the anchors of the team on either side of the ball and they will show why against the Bulls.

Herro has been in the midst of his best season yet in his NBA career and it will continue into the play-in tournament as while the late-game mistake last time was one to forget, he’ll redeem himself. Scoring 30 last game, he will reach that mark once again with help from Adebayo who will have an inspiring performance on offense and defense as expect the team captain to have a near triple-double.

However, it will start on defense as the Heat’s identity has been playing exceptional defense with the offense going along with it like a domino effect. As Adebayo said, it will begin with eliminating Chicago’s game in transition and putting the game “in the mud.”

“Taking away transition points,” Adebayo said. “That’s the biggest thing. From that, make it a half-court game and then we play in the mud.”

At any rate, the season will be on the line in the NBA play-in tournament Wednesday for Miami as they look to get their first win over the Bulls this season.