NBA Matchups: April 16

MIA @ CHI | DAL @ SAC

Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls

Team Totals: Heat 109.3, Bulls 110.3

Injury Report: Nikola Jovic (Q, hand), Pelle Larsson (Q, ankle), Kevin Love (Q, conditioning), Lonzo Ball (D, wrist), Dalen Terry (P, calf), Josh Giddey (P, forearm)

Heat projected starters: Tyler Herro, Alec Burks, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Kel’El Ware

Bulls projected starters: Josh Giddey, Coby White, Kevin Huerter, Matas Buzelis, Nikola Vucevic

Offensive Ranks: Heat 21st, Bulls 19th
Defensive Ranks: Heat 9th, Bulls 18th 

Season Series: 3-0 Bulls 

Key 1-on-1 matchups: Andrew Wiggins on Josh Giddey (and on Coby White), Davion Mitchell on Coby White, Nikola Vucevic on Bam/Kel’El and vice versa, Kevin Huerter on Tyler Herro, Matas Buzelis on Kel’El Ware, Josh Giddey on Andrew Wiggins

Noteworthy Missed Games: Davion Mitchell (1 missed, traded), Andrew Wiggins (1), Nikola Vucevic (1), Kevin Huerter (1), Lonzo Ball (2)

Spo quotes: Said it was great to see Jaquez play well on Sunday and to see him get downhill, said Jaquez was savvy and he made some great reads, said they are really going to be trying to lock in and take away transition against the Bulls. 

Donovan quotes: Said Giddey did light shooting and “is still going to have to deal with it”, said “it’s a muscle issue” that has impacted his mobility, said Matas has been physically stronger and he’s been better at the defensive basics (boxing out, closeouts), said Matas has earned all the minutes he’s played lately.

Stats and Notes:

*The Bulls have owned this matchup and most noticeably they won the big game on April 9 (119-111). The Bulls have been one of the league’s best transition defenses, and both Spo and Bam Adebayo have talked about how they really have to lock in and take that away. Miami is one of the league’s best transition defenses this season at the fourth fewest, and it’s held up even when they play big. Miami’s rim defense has generally been awesome, but the Bulls actually piled up some interior scoring on them in the most recent game. Miami should have their main defenders in good shape for this one, but Andrew Wiggins could still be a little limited from the hammy issue he returned from on Wednesday. For Miami’s offense, they have gotten back on track with heavy rim pressure lately, and they get a matchup against arguably the worst rim defense in the NBA. There are a lot of ways for Miami to really put it on the Bulls, and Spo has been prepping for this game since basically Friday.

*Tyler Herro should be in a huge spot here. The Bulls are likely going to start with Kevin Huerter on him again, and they will try to mix in some Dalen Terry. Herro has been more aggressive lately with 15.6 drives in April, and he’s going to be able to get it going against some drop from Vooch. He’ll play a ton of minutes and the pace should also help him out here. It should be a massive Herro game despite how the Bulls may put two on him.