On April 20, Beijing time, the NBA play-offs ushered in the endgame, and the Heat played against the Bulls at home. In this game, Butler was absent, and the Heat took the initiative with a 19-0 offensive wave, and then suppressed the Bulls, directly stretching the difference to more than 20 points in the second half, and the game lost suspense early. In the end, the Heat defeated the Bulls 112-91 to advance to the playoffs, where they will face the Celtics in the first round.
In the first quarter of the game, Butler was absent due to injury, which also made the Heat passive in the opening game, Bulls Caruso and Dosum hit three points one after another, and DeRozan also scored three points to take an 11-6 lead. The Heat then entered the state, Jovic hit a three-point shot, Harkes hit 2+1, and then the three-point surge, the Bulls suddenly lost fire, no points for more than 5 minutes, and were bombed 19-0 offensive, and the score came to 11-25. Vucevic scored a basket to stop the bleeding, Love hit a three-pointer, the Heat offense was hot, Highsmith received a dunk, Drummond scored a basket, Green hit two free throws, and the Heat led 34-17 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, the Heat's hand declined, but fortunately, Dunroe hit two three-pointers in a row from the outside to establish a 20-point lead. DeRozan responded with a goal and then scored on a counter-attack to close the gap with a 9-0 run. The Heat's offensive state fell into a slump, and they missed consecutive shots, but fortunately, the Bulls did not score consecutive points during this time, Herro hit a three-point shot, and White returned with three points. At halftime, the Bulls trailed the Heat 37-47.
In the rematch, Adebayo came up to take the lead, Vucevic hit a three-pointer, and DeRozan counterattacked to make it 42-49. Herro hit a three-point shot to stabilize it, Vucevic continued to score points, Martin scored a three-pointer, Herro broke through and scored, Harkes counterattacked and dunked, and the Heat reopened the gap 59-44. Dosum scored five points in a row to stop the bleeding, Harks dunked in the air, the offensive touch of the two teams recovered, Martin and Adebayo hit three points one after another, and the Heat still took the initiative. In the end, the Bulls were dumb again, Love scored consecutive free throws, Wright and Herro hit three-pointers, and the Heat led 82-60 after the third quarter.
In the final quarter of the game, Harkes counterattacked with both hands and dunked, Caruso stopped the bleeding with three points, but Herro replied directly, the Heat kept the lead, and the difference was stretched to 29 points at most, and the Bulls were also unable to catch up, so they could only replace the main force. In the end, the Heat defeated the Bulls 112-91 and advanced to the playoffs.
In this game, the Heat still managed to win without Butler, this time mainly relying on Herro and Harks, Herro got 24 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists of quasi-triple-double data, and finally refused to brush a triple-double, early substitution for the break; Hawks got 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and the veteran Love became a wonder soldier, with 16 points and 7 rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench. The Bulls were very regretful, DeRozan scored 22 points and was eliminated by the Heat in the playoffs for the second consecutive year.