Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Justise Winslow stepped up to give the Miami Heat a much needed win against the Chicago Bulls Monday.
The Chicago Bulls didn’t have an answer for Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh had a strong fourth quarter and Justise Winslow took on a new job as the Miami Heat broke a four-game losing streak Monday night.
In a closely battled game–as these Heat-Bulls matchups typically are–Miami was just a little bit better. The box score doesn’t always tell the story, but it certainly provides context. Check out just how close this game, which featured 11 lead changes and 13 ties, was:
Heat: 45.7% FG, 21.4% 3FG, 12-17 FT, 46 REB, 21 AST, 7 STL, 3 BLK, 11 TO
Bulls: 39.8% FG, 27.8% 3FG, 9-12 FT, 49 REB, 18 AST, 5 STL, 3 BLK, 13 TO
That’s pretty darn close. The biggest difference came at the free throw line, and that can be credited to Wade playing a strong game in his home town. Wade got to the rim at will, and the Bulls had no answer for him and just ended up fouling him. He shot eight free throw attempts, making six of them. He was the difference at the line, with no one on Chicago shooting more than three free throw attempts.
Wade stepped up and, for the Bulls, it hurt that Jimmy Butler didn’t. Butler went just of 5-of-15 from the field and scored 13 points.
In a game so closely contested, it’s often your best player who makes the difference. Pau Gasol, who finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds, was impressive for the Bulls.
Gasol made the last basket for Chicago, tying the game at 84 with 1:14 left. The Heat kept the Bulls scoreless the rest of the way, with Bosh providing strong defense on Gasol in Chicago’s final two possessions (Bosh a tight contest on Gasol on one possession, then ripped the ball from him on the next).
Wade outplayed Butler. Bosh outplayed Gasol. And that was that.
Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside were out with injuries.
Three stars
Wade finished with 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added seven rebounds and five assists. He scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a 20-foot dagger to put the Heat up two possessions with 22 second left.
Bosh, who scored six points in the fourth quarter, finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He also didn’t have a turnovers. As noted already, his defense in the final minutes was clutch and won the game for Miami as much as Wade’s shooting.
Let’s talk about Justise Winslow. Winslow got a new job Monday, starting the fourth quarter by bringing the ball up. He did it on the next possession. And the next possession. And did so on many possessions in the final period.
This allowed Wade and Tyler Johnson to play off the ball, and made Winslow less of a space sucker on offense and gave him, y’know, a job on that end of the court.
The Heat used Winslow as a point guard in his first summer league game, and got back to that Monday. There is certainly a future with Winslow doing this more.
Winslow finished with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes and played excellent defense on Butler late in the game.
Highlights
Up next
The Miami Heat (24-21) take on the Brooklyn Nets (12-33) at 7:30 pm ET Tuesday in the second game of the back to back.