Heat complete sweep of Bulls to stay in first in the East

JIMMY Butler scored 22 points, and Kyle Lowry added 19 points and a game-high 10 assists as the Miami Heat defeated the host Chicago Bulls 127-109 on Saturday night.

Zach LaVine led the Bulls (45-33) with a game-high 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting, including 5-for-12 on 3-pointers. The Bulls, who had their two-game win streak broken, also got 26 points from DeMar DeRozan, who had 50 in his previous contest.

Miami (50-28), which leads the Eastern Conference and swept all four games from Chicago this season, also got 19 points off the bench from Tyler Herro. Butler had a well-rounded game with seven rebounds and six assists as the Heat improved to 23-15 on the road.

Heat center Bam Adebayo had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, and he added seven rebounds and three assists.

Chicago’s excellent home record fell to 27-11.

The Heat shot the ball well all night, hitting on 53.7% from the floor, including 17-for-34 on 3-pointers.

Chicago shot 43.0% from the floor, including 9-for-34 on 3-pointers (26.5%).

Miami got off to a 27-25 start by shooting a superb 80%.

They cooled off slightly but still led 31-30 at the end of the first quarter, shooting 63.6 percent as compared to 42.9% for Chicago. The Bulls stayed in the game due to their zero turnovers and 11 points from LaVine.

The Heat extended their halftime lead to 66-57. For the first half, Miami shot 57.5% from the floor, including 6-for-12 on 3-pointers, and 14-of-15 on free throws (93.3%). Chicago shot 42.9%, although the Bulls had a first-half-high 18 points from LaVine.

Miami stretched its advantage to 98-79 by the end of the third quarter. The Heat’s shooting through three quarters remained hot — 58.1% from the floor and 12-for-22 on 3-pointers (54.5).

In the fourth quarter, Chicago went on a 7-0 run, cutting its deficit to 111-97. But a Herro 3-pointer ended Chicago’s momentum, and Miami cruised from there. — Reuters