These aren’t your dad’s Bulls.

And they’re definitely no longer DeMar DeRozan’s or Zach LaVine’s — and that might be a good thing.

That’s why big man Nikola Vucevic doesn’t want the core of this group that has been around for the previous two play-in games against the Heat to live in that space.

Heck, don’t even visit it.

In 2022-23, the Bulls’ season ended in Miami. They watched a three-point lead with 3:47 left disintegrate into an 11-point victory for the Heat, thanks to Jimmy Butler haunting his former organization in the clutch.

Last season, the Bulls just didn’t show up from the tip to the final horn in Miami and were chasing the Heat for 48 minutes.

Two different games but the same result.

‘‘Last year, we didn’t play well at all, didn’t have a chance,’’ Vucevic said. ‘‘The year before — 45 seconds, a minute, whatever it was — they took over the game [late]. But I think it’s different this year overall. Two different teams. A lot of players have changed, so you have to look at each season, each team differently.’’

That’s the key for the play-in showdown Wednesday at the United Center.

The Bulls traded DeRozan and Alex Caruso last summer, then dealt LaVine before the deadline in February. The Heat traded Butler before the deadline, too.

That’s a lot of star power that has left the rivalry. That’s the drum that Vucevic was beating.

‘‘It doesn’t have to be like it was last year,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve played them well so far this year, but we understand they are a very well-coached team and have players that have been to the Finals multiple times; they know what it takes. They play very hard, they’re organized, they compete, they never give up.

‘‘It’s going to be a grind-it-out game. Those types of games, what happened before or what happened during the regular season will not necessarily matter as much. It’s a one-off game where you have to bring your best. Not think about anything else, just ‘next play, next play,’ and see what happens.’’

What the Bulls have on their side is what they did to the Heat during the regular season, sweeping three games, including one last week at the United Center that had a play-in feel to it.

Eastern Conference seedings were on the line, and the Bulls won 119-111 behind a triple-double by Josh Giddey, who has averaged a triple-double against the Heat this season.

To Vucevic’s point, however, the past is the past when it comes to a loser-goes-home game. If the Bulls can lock into the game mentally and impose their style of up-tempo play on the methodical Heat, the curse should be broken.

‘‘In any game, you want to try and impose your style and play to what makes you best,’’ Vucevic said. ‘‘Obviously, for us, it’s play fast and try to run. For us to be able to do that, we have to really defend well, take care of the glass. Take care of the ball, as well. We have to make sure we don’t let them slow the game down too much. They do a lot of that by getting to the line [and] drawing fouls, so we have to be smart with that.’’

What can’t happen is for the Bulls to think about the past if the game starts going the wrong way.

‘‘The one thing I respect [about the Heat] from afar, people can look at where organizations are at a particular time, but with them it’s only about one thing — winning,’’ coach Billy Donovan said. ‘‘It doesn’t make a difference what their roster is, it’s all about winning.
So I have great respect and admiration for that.’’