The Chicago Bulls, one of the worst road teams in the NBA, figure to have their hands full when they visit the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Miami is 6-4 at home, including a 115-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
Chicago, 2-9 away from home, enters Thursday on a two-game losing streak. But the Bulls actually are playing quite well of late, having won four straight prior to the back-to-back losses. Among the victories was an overtime contest against the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bulls’ two-game skid includes an overtime loss in Milwaukee on Monday and a Tuesday home loss to the reigning league champion Denver Nuggets.
With Chicago battling some significant injuries, DeMar DeRozan and Coby White are taking on extra responsibility.
DeRozan had 41 points and 11 assists in the loss to the Bucks. The last Bulls player to have 40-plus points and 10-plus assists in a game was Michael Jordan on Dec. 23, 1992, against the then-Washington Bullets.
DeRozan leads Chicago in scoring (22.3 points per game) and assists (5.3).
White ranks second on the Bulls in assists (4.5) and third in scoring (16.7, a career-high pace). Over the past eight games, White has been even better: 24.9 points and 5.4 assists.
The Bulls were without three of their top players on Tuesday.
Lonzo Ball (knee) is out for the season, and, by the end of the campaign, he will have played just 90 games in three seasons.
Zach LaVine, a two-time All-Star, is likely out for at least three more weeks due to a foot injury. The former Olympic gold medalist and two-time Slam Dunk champ is averaging 21.0 points this season.
The good news for the Bulls is that their third injured regular — Alex Caruso — could return on Thursday. A first-team NBA All-Defense selection in 2022-23, Caruso has a sprained left ankle that has caused him to miss two consecutive games.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan likes how Caruso is trending.
“The fact that he’s even going on the court to try to get ready I think indicates he’s pretty close to being back,” Donovan said.
Miami, riding a modest two-game winning streak, was able to rest Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry for the entire fourth quarter against Charlotte on Wednesday. Kevin Love played less than four minutes in the frame.
Not coincidentally, those are Miami’s three oldest players: Lowry is 37, Love 35 and Butler 34.
Butler and Lowry were particularly good on Wednesday. Butler had 15 points, a game-high 10 assists and seven rebounds. Lowry had 17 points, shooting 5 of 5 from the floor, 4 of 4 on 3-pointers and 3 of 3 from the foul line.
Miami was again missing its top two scorers, Bam Adebayo (hip) and Tyler Herro (ankle), on Wednesday. Two other key members of the rotation, Haywood Highsmith (back) and Josh Richardson (illness), were also out.
Herro, who has missed 16 straight games due to an ankle injury, possibly could return as soon as Thursday. That would give Miami a huge lift, as he averaged 20.1 points last season and has produced 22.9 points in eight games this season.
While the Heat wait for those players to return, coach Erik Spoelstra is thrilled to see Lowry looking for his offense.
“We need him to be aggressive in the open court but also finding paint-attack-touch opportunities,” Spoelstra said. “Hopefully that’s something we can count on even as we start to get our (injured) guys back.”
–Field Level Media