Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls Game Breakdown #20

Welcome to Simply Ballin’s game breakdown of the Miami Heat. After each game, you will see my thoughts on the game, film breakdown, and other interesting bits that stood out to me.

Quick Thoughts

This was a great bounce-back win for the Heat especially when the win comes against a great team like the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls have been one of the best teams in the league — sixth-best net rating, ninth-best defense, and 11th best offense.

And it was surprising they won the game without Tyler Herro and without either Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo having great games.

Though it was a win, it was also a weird win. What made it weird was the fact the Bulls were even in the game — the Heat caused 22 turnovers, shot 35.0% percent from deep, five players in double-digits, and the Bulls shot under 30% from deep.

An interesting stat was the Heat having 40 points off the bench without their star guard.

It was a great team win that was filled with many great things — Gabe Vincent going off, Kyle Lowry doing Kyle Lowry things, Duncan Robinson showing off his game, and great defense scheming.

Offensive Breakdown

Before we get to the fourth quarter and the stellar performance down the stretch from both Lowry and Vincent, let’s see what the offense was before that.

Did you know through three-quarters Robinson was the team’s leading scorer?

It freaking sucks that he found himself in foul trouble and also Max Strus playing well enough for Erik Spoelstra to stick with that lineup.

Before not playing for the entire fourth quarter, Robinson finished the game with 16 points and 4–11 from deep.

And there are two things to touch on — how he got his shots and again doing more than shoot 3s.

You can see how in the first three clips, he got his shots off a dribble after getting a pick from either Adebayo or Butler. Simply adding something more into his arsenal than only spotting up or only getting shots off of dribble hand-offs.

The last clip also showcased how he uses his off-ball skills to get open shots. There was a pick from PJ Tucker coming, so Zach LaVine decides to top lock him to prevent him from using it. With LaVine playing aggressive defense, Robinson simply walked him toward the screen and went under.

Similar to last game, he’s been attacking the rim more.

There are two benefits to this — it makes him more dangerous and it replaces a potential miss from chucking too many 3s with a good look at the rim.

Robinson has been great efficiency-wise when attacking the rim — whether it’s off a cut when he slips a screen or attacking a trailing defender and using a floater at the rim.

As already mentioned, the Heat had a big contribution from the bench — Vincent was a big one, of course, but both Max Strus and Caleb Martin also did their part.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Heat had soon found themselves down by six with 11 minutes left. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they weren’t ready for the Vincent show.

And in the next two minutes or so, Vincent scored 11 straight points — started off with a three, free throws, and two more threes. Not only has he scored, but he also assisted on Lowry’s three triples too.

With Herro out, they needed someone to make a comeback down the stretch. Vincent hasn’t been consistent throughout the entire season, but he’s exceeded expectations especially in the games when the Heat needed the bench to step up.

Another guy to step up and do what he’s meant to do was Lowry. This is exactly what the Heat needed from him when they’ve decided to get him.

Lowry was amazing! In the fourth quarter, Lowry scored 11 points on 4–7 shooting with three tough triples.

I don’t want to overshadow how impressive it was for him to even hit those tough shots, but what stood out to me more was the ball movement.

There weren’t many isolations — it was drive and kicks, swinging the ball, and off-ball cutting.

Despite these two combining for 27 points, the last couple of possessions went to Butler to get his shot.

Do you see that stat? 17–32 inside the arc. Butler is a tough shot maker when he gets downhill and attacks the rim — he either makes the basket himself, draws a foul (26 ft to 32 fga), or draws the defense for plays like this:

Things that Caught My Eye:

• The Heat had a few nicely designed plays that resulted in open looks — a side PnR with Lowry and Adebayo with Robinson in the strong side corner, screening actions disguised for one player then switching that play, and a couple of Spain PnR
• Something must be wrong with Adebayo — only nine attempts and one trip to the line
• Strus attempting seven 3s

Defensive Breakdown

The defensive game plan seemed obvious — get the ball out of the stars’ hands and let others beat you.

And it worked.

Digging deep into some tracking stats, Alex Caruso had 77 touches (up from his 51 average on the season) and Coby White had 38 (up from his 24 average). These two players combined for 115 touches, which was 26% of the team’s total touches.

Both Nikola Vucevic’s and Zach LaVine’s were also down.

They made sure that Vucevic wouldn’t hurt them, as he historically has — he had 7 points on 3–9 shooting with only one trip to the line.

In the first half, their top-4 players combined for 24 points on 22 shots with only four free throws.

Though, DeMar DeRozan did get going in the third quarter, but you can’t stop every star.

The way they did that was by blitzing their ball handlers and doubling on mismatches.

This does come with a downside, especially when the opposing team has smart players that can find open looks on the perimeter or cutters.

Got to give credit to the Bulls for making this adjustment — have one of the guys flash either flash or slip to the high post and punish the defense when they rotate to help.

The Bulls did well adjusting, but the Heat didn’t do much to counter it — those slips by the screener to the high post created so many advantages because of miscommunication and lack of effort.

In the first clip, you have no help anywhere near the nail to prevent or slow down that roll. Next, with the rotations, you have both Lowry and Butler going to help on the roller, leaving two guys open in the corner, and finally, a slow effort by Robinson to close out.

There were again lazy efforts on switches and cuts. With a team like the Bulls, where they have great playmakers and passers in Vucevic, Caruso, and Lonzo Ball and also have deadly slashers, the defense needs to be more aware of cutters.

Finally, transition defense. The Heat have way too many defensive breakdowns when they are scrambling on a fastbreak.

Originally published at https://www.simplyballin.com.