Miami.- Max Strus and Jimmy Butler each scored 31 points, and the Miami Heat entered the playoffs by recovering in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 on Friday in a play-in game of the Eastern Conference.
Tyler Herro added 12 points and Bam Adebayo grabbed 17 rebounds for Miami, which trailed by six midway through the fourth quarter.
But Butler scored while fouled with 2:17 left to put Miami ahead for good, found Strus for a 3-pointer, his seventh of the night, a minute later to push the lead to five, and Strus sealed it with three free throws. after being fouled on an attempt from beyond the arc with 40 seconds remaining.
The victory gives Miami the No. 8 seed in the East, and a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA’s first overall seed, starting Sunday.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists. Alex Caruso added 16 points, Zach Lavine had 15 but shot just 6-of-20, and Coby White scored 14 for the Bulls. Chicago earned a road win in Toronto on Wednesday to extend its season, but was unable to get the second road win it needed to make the playoffs.
The Heat led by 14 in the first quarter, held a 10-point lead in the third quarter, then found themselves trailing by six with 7:12 remaining.
A 9-3 run over the next 2 minutes (Butler had seven of the points, Strus had the other two) brought the Heat to a tie and into all-too-familiar territory. The NBA defines crucial games as those that are within five points or less in the last 5 minutes, and the Heat played a league-high 54 of them during the regular season.
Maybe he prepared them for this moment. White made a 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining to put the Bulls up 90-87.
The score the rest of the way: Heat 15, Bulls 1.
