The Chicago Bulls’ disappointing season came to an end on Friday night.
Chicago fell to the Miami Heat, 102-91, in the play-in finale in the Eastern Conference as the two teams fought for the final playoff spot.
The Bulls took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter before the Heat outscored them 35-23 in the final 12 minutes to steal the game.
“Everybody was playing their heart out. It was a low-scoring game, high defense, Everybody was just trying to put the ball in the hoop,” Zach LaVine said. “It hurts. You try to scratch away and win the game. We didn’t make enough plays. This stings.”
For LaVine, who single-handedly led the Bulls past Toronto on Wednesday with 39 points, couldn’t repeat that performance on Friday, scoring only 15 points on just 6-of-21 shooting from the field.
“It just flipped. Nothing went our way,” DeMar DeRozan said. “Just trying to understand emotionally how much we put into it the second half of the season just to give ourself an opportunity. Dropping the ball this way sucks. This one is going to sting for a couple days.”
DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists on 9-of-19 shooting and hitting 8-of-9 free throws.
As DeRozan said, this loss may ‘sting for a couple days’ but what may sting more is wondering if this was the last game DeRozan and LaVine will play as Bulls’ teammates.
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