![\"The](\"https:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1358505135-e1643318234814.jpg\")
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These aren\u2019t your dad\u2019s Bulls.<\/p>\n
And they\u2019re definitely no longer DeMar DeRozan\u2019s or Zach LaVine\u2019s \u2014 and that might be a good thing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why big man Nikola Vucevic doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Heck, don\u2019t even visit it.<\/p>\n
In 2022-23, the Bulls\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Bulls just didn\u2019t show up from the tip to the final horn in Miami and were chasing the Heat for 48 minutes.<\/p>\n
Two different games but the same result.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Last year, we didn\u2019t play well at all, didn\u2019t have a chance,\u2019\u2019 Vucevic said. \u2018\u2018The year before \u2014 45 seconds, a minute, whatever it was \u2014 they took over the game [late]. But I think it\u2019s different this year overall. Two different teams. A lot of players have changed, so you have to look at each season, each team differently.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the key for the play-in showdown Wednesday at the United Center.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a lot of star power that has left the rivalry. That\u2019s the drum that Vucevic was beating.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It doesn\u2019t have to be like it was last year,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018We\u2019ve 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\u2019re organized, they compete, they never give up.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It\u2019s 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\u2019s a one-off game where you have to bring your best. Not think about anything else, just \u2018next play, next play,\u2019 and see what happens.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
To Vucevic\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018In any game, you want to try and impose your style and play to what makes you best,\u2019\u2019 Vucevic said. \u2018\u2018Obviously, for us, it\u2019s 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\u2019t 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
What can\u2019t happen is for the Bulls to think about the past if the game starts going the wrong way.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The one thing I respect [about the Heat] from afar, people can look at where organizations are at a particular time, but with them it\u2019s only about one thing \u2014 winning,\u2019\u2019 coach Billy Donovan said. \u2018\u2018It doesn\u2019t make a difference what their roster is, it\u2019s all about winning.
\nSo I have great respect and admiration for that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Heat have ended the Bulls’ season in play-in games the last two years. Vucevic wants his teammates to understand what happened in the past has nothing to do with what happens Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n