The Chicago Bulls (17-20) host the Miami Heat (20-17) at the United Center on Thursday.
Chicago and Miami have been two of the fastest-paced teams in the NBA this season, setting up an entertaining showdown between two Eastern Conference squads vying to move up the standings. Here are three key storylines to know heading into Thursday’s tilt.
- Heating up: Miami is keeping pace in the East and enters this matchup winning five of its last seven outings. What’s really remarkable about this spurt is that they’ve done most of that damage without Tyler Herro, who’s been in and out of the lineup with a toe issue. The All-Star has missed 30 games this season while recovering from left ankle surgery and, most recently, a toe contusion. Getting his 22.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists back in the fold can’t be overlooked, especially with the way Norman Powell has looked in his debut season with the Heat. After a breakout campaign with the Clippers last season, Powell has backed that up by averaging a career-high 24.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals this year. That’s a dynamic backcourt duo, and it’ll be interesting to see how they gel once they have more reps together.
- The Bulls are battling: While the Bulls have lost three of their last four games, they enter this matchup having won seven of their last 12 overall. Much like Miami, Chicago has been getting by without arguably their best player: Josh Giddey. The Aussie suffered a hamstring strain on December 29, and he’s not expected to return for a few more weeks. The good news is that Chicago has one of the best backup point guards in the NBA, with Tre Jones averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals across 16 starts this season. They’ve also gotten some inspired play from Nikola Vučević, who’s averaging 18.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists across his last 12 outings.
- Battle between two fast-paced teams: We could be in for a high-scoring matchup because these teams love to get up and down the floor. Miami has completely changed its style of play this season, playing at the fastest pace in the NBA. That’s led to the Heat averaging over 120 points per game, which is the third-highest mark in the league. Chicago isn’t too far behind either, ranking third in pace and averaging 117.1 points per game. Having two of the top three teams in pace will lead to more possessions and shots than usual, which was evident when Miami dropped 143 points in a victory over Chicago on November 21. That was actually an NBA Cup game, with the Heat having all five starters score at least 16 points apiece in that 143-107 victory. Fans can expect an up-tempo showdown tonight in the Windy City. The Bulls’ pace will be tested, though, as they’ll be playing in the second leg of a back-to-back after losing 108-93 to the Pistons in Detroit on Wednesday.
