Coby White notched game highs of 26 points and 11 assists as the Chicago Bulls earned a wire-to-wire 124-116 win over the host Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double in his past seven games. Vucevic added seven assists and three steals.
The Bulls, who have won five of their past seven games, also got a season-high 24 points from reserve Ayo Dosunmu, who made 10 of 12 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers. He also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, making 10 of 11 free throws.
Alex Caruso, a first-team All-Defense selection last season, returned for the Bulls after missing two games due to a sprained left ankle. However, he reinjured the ankle on Thursday, and he left the contest with 7:09 left in the first quarter.
Reserve Jaime Jaquez Jr. led Miami with 22 points. It was his 12th straight double-figure game, the first Heat rookie to do that since Kendrick Nunn in 2019-2020.
Jimmy Butler added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat.
Chicago raced to a 33-8 lead. However, Miami rallied to cut its deficit to 36-22 by the end of the first quarter.
The Bulls started the second quarter on a 12-2 run, but the Heat charged back and cut their deficit to 60-56 by halftime. Miami closed the half on a 26-7 run, making six of its final eight 3-point shots. Miami shot 52.6 percent in the second quarter while Chicago shot 37.5 percent.
Jaquez led all first-half scorers with 14 points. DeRozan led Chicago with 13 points, and White had 12 points and seven assists with a plus-17 rating.
Vucevic had the big third quarter (15 points) as Chicago took a 93-88 lead into the fourth.
Miami could never get closer than four points in the fourth quarter.
The Bulls finished the game with a 52-38 edge in paint points.
Miami is 10-2 this season against teams below .500. Both losses were to Chicago.
–Field Level Media