The Miami Heat continued to do their thing in a blowout road win against the Chicago Bulls. As has been the case throughout this season, the Heat were able to produce high-octane offense, once again finishing with eight double-digit scorers, and out-pace a notoriously fast team despite missing multiple key players, (Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jović).
Here’s what stood out from this one:
Top-tier rebounding: This was the Heat’s most well-rounded rebounding game of the season, putting up seven more offensive rebounds and seven more defensive rebounds than the Bulls. An 83rd percentile offensive rebound percentage for a team that has struggled to grab boards so often recently has to be very encouraging.
Bam Adebayo’s return to the lineup combined with Kel’el Ware continuing to get better on the glass was a big part of it, but Keshad Johnson was the x-factor here.
He was a real positive on the boards playing his natural power forward position, grabbing 12 rebounds. More impressively, the Heat grabbed 15 percent more rebounds when he was on the floor compared to when he was off.
Defensive tenacity: The Bulls were not able to compensate on offense without Coby White, who they’ve played all but two games without, and Matas Buzelis, who they lost to injury in the second half.
The Heat held them to a sixth percentile offensive rating. This featured a 28th percentile offensive rating in the halfcourt, where they made just 43 percent of their shots, and a sixth percentile transition offensive rating, converting on just 30 percent there.
The Heat achieved this by taking the Bulls out of their comfort zones. The Bulls came into this game as one of the better three-point shooting teams in the leaguea and shot just 28 percent on their threes last night. Additionally, the Bulls get up some of the most shots at the rim in the NBA, but converted on a ninth percentile clip there last night.
The Heat absolutely dominated the turnover battle, finishing with 10, which would rank as the best mark in the league, to the Bulls’ 18, which would be the worst in the league.
Winning the race/taking care of the ball: While both teams play at breakneck speed, with the Bulls ranking second behind the Heat in pace, the Heat did it better. They put up 115.6 possessions per 48 minutes last night to the Bulls’ 104.1, (via dunksandthrees.com).
For the Bulls, that number is almost identical to their season average. On the other hand, for the Heat, that mark is almost nine possessions more than their season average.
Additionally, the Heat finished with 14 fastbreak points to the Bulls’ six. Neither team had particularly strong or high-volume nights in that aspect, which was a little surprising since both teams rank among the top five in transition frequency.
The Heat and Bulls both took a ton of shots at the rim, putting up a 91st and 97th percentile shots at rim frequency, respectively. However, the difference was in the execution of their fast-paced offenses, where the Heat converted about eight percent better at the basket and 13 percent better on their jumpers. The Heat ended this game with a 91st percentile overall offensive rating, 80th percentile in the halfcourt.
The Heat finished with 34 assists, (four more than their league-leading 30 per game) to the Bulls’ 26, and a 94th percentile turnover percentage, 36th percentile for the Bulls.
As mentioned above, taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding were vital for the Heat offense, helping them finish with 10 more shot attempts. When paired with 16 more free throw attempts and a 94th percentile free throw rate, you’ve got a particularly strong formula to bust up opposing teams.
For more Miami Heat information and conversation, check out Off The Floor.Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached on Twitter: @tropicalblanket