Despite coming into the NBA Play-In Tournament with a 37-45 record and as the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat did what they usually do at this time of year and showed up to play when it mattered. The Heat went on the road against the Chicago Bulls and crushed them for 48 full minutes, walking out of the United Center with a 109-90 win to advance to Friday’s do-or-die game.
The Heat are not in the playoffs with this win, but they do advance to a do-or-die game on Friday in Atlanta against the Hawks. The stakes couldn’t possibly be any higher for that one; the winner will advance to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs while the loser will get a head start on the offseason.
Despite the big win, Spoelstra was in no mood to entertain the press afterward. He snapped at a question asking for his postgame message to his squad, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
“None of your business,” Spoelstra said, per Weiss. “Unfortunately, I think there’s a camera in there. It was a great message. We’re halfway there.”
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Whatever Spoelstra said, it seems to be working for his Heat team. They essentially led wire-to-wire in this one and never let Chicago even get the game within single digits in the second half. Tyler Herro had a perfect start and finished with 38 points on 13-for-19 shooting to carry the offense in the win.
Over-performing in the playoffs has become a common theme for the Heat under Spoelstra and that continued on Wednesday night. Now, Miami will bring the momentum from that win into Atlanta against a Hawks team that may be reeling after a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
If the Heat want to keep this season going, they will have to bring the same level of intensity and execution on both ends into Friday night. Spoelstra has been able to get them to do that consistently in big games for over a decade, so Miami will be feeling confident that it can get into the playoffs with another win.
