Chicago Bulls (39-43, ninth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (46-36, eighth in the Eastern Conference)
Miami; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Heat -1.5; over/under is 205
PLAY-IN GAME: The Heat and Bulls meet to decide the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls hit the court in the NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament. The winner secures the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The Heat have gone 32-20 against Eastern Conference teams. Miami is 21-15 in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Bulls are 22-29 in conference play. Chicago averages 11.7 turnovers per game and is 21-21 when committing fewer turnovers than opponents.
The Heat average 12.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.1 fewer makes per game than the Bulls allow (14.6). The Bulls average 11.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.5 fewer made shots on average than the 13.0 per game the Heat allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bam Adebayo is averaging 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Heat. Nikola Jovic is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
DeMar DeRozan is scoring 24.0 points per game and averaging 4.3 rebounds for the Bulls. Alex Caruso is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 7-3, averaging 116.1 points, 43.8 rebounds, 27.6 assists, 8.3 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.6 points per game.
Bulls: 5-5, averaging 114.1 points, 46.7 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 8.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.1 points.
INJURIES: Heat: Terry Rozier: out (neck), Josh Richardson: out for season (shoulder), Duncan Robinson: day to day (back), Jimmy Butler: out (mcl).
Bulls: Alex Caruso: day to day (ankle), Onuralp Bitim: out for season (eye), Ayo Dosunmu: day to day (quad), Andre Drummond: day to day (ankle), Zach LaVine: out for season (ankle), Patrick Williams: out for season (foot), Julian Phillips: out (foot), Lonzo Ball: out for season (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
