CHICAGO – Bam Adebayo scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds, and the Miami Heat blew out the Chicago Bulls 118-100 on Monday night, two nights after blowing a 21-point lead in the same building.
Jimmy Butler scored 16 points against his former team, while Adebayo earned his eighth double-double of the season.
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The Heat have now won eight of their last nine games after a 1-4 start to the season. Miami nailed a season-high 17 of 35 3-point attempts from the field despite sharpshooter Tyler Herro missing his sixth-straight game with a right ankle sprain.
For a fourth consecutive game, the Bulls faced a large deficit in front of their home fans, falling behind 12-2 less than three minutes in after Duncan Robinson made two early 3-pointers. Robinson scored 11 of his 22 points in the first quarter and has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game so far this season.
Coby White led the Bulls with a season-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 15.
While all five Bulls starters reached double figures in scoring, Zach LaVine was limited to 13 points on a season-low nine shot attempts. Alex Caruso also finished with 13 points along with a block and a steal. For the defensive-minded Caruso, six straight games with double-digit scoring is the longest streak of his career.
Rookie forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 19 points, while Kevin Love added 11 points with eight rebounds for a Heat bench unit that combined for 42 points, compared to just 21 for the Bulls’ reserves.
Butler began his NBA career in Chicago, where he made three of his six All-Star Game appearances. Since then, Butler’s 23.9 points per game scoring average against the Bulls is his highest against any team for his career. Adebayo has eclipsed the 20-point barrier in eight consecutive games.
UP NEXT
Heat: Visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Bulls: Begin a four-game road trip against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA