MIAMI: The Miami Heat shrugged off the absence of star forward Jimmy Butler to crush the Chicago Bulls 112-91 in their play-in eliminator on Friday and earn a clash with the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
In the Western Conference, the New Orleans Pelicans, also missing their key man with forward Zion Williamson out with a hamstring injury, beat the Sacramento Kings 105-98 to set up a first-round series with the number one seed Oklahoma City Thunder.It is the second straight season that Miami have earned the eighth-seed spot via the play-in tournament and they will play the Celtics for the fourth time in the last five post-seasons.
Point guard Tyler Herro was the main man with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, but he was well supported by rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. and veteran Kevin Love.Jaquez put up 21 points with six rebounds and six assists, while Love, coming off the bench, made 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “There are a lot of people who try to determine the outcome of a game by how many points someone scores and I think Jimmy Butler does the opposite of that,” he said.
The Celtics, however, will start as strong favorites against Miami, with Boston notching a league-high 64 wins this season.
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