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DeMar DeRozan hit the go-ahead jumper with 21.9 seconds left and scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the host Chicago Bulls rallied from a 21-point deficit to earn a 102-97 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night.

The Bulls did not get the lead until Alex Caruso hit an open 3-pointer from the left side to make it 97-94 with 51.8 seconds left. After Jimmy Butler sank a tying 3-pointer with 42.7 seconds left, DeRozan made a spinning turnaround 18-footer from the left elbow over rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr to make it 99-97.

Butler missed a corner 3 with 12.4 seconds that was tightly guarded by Torrey Craig and DeRozan sank three free throws to help the Bulls finish the comeback and end Miami’s seven-game winning streak.

Nikola Vucevic added 15 for the Bulls, who outscored Miami 101-75 over the final 41 1/2 minutes. Coby White chipped in 14 while Zach LaVine hit two 3s in the fourth and contributed 13.

Butler led the Heat with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Bam Adebayo added 24 and 10 rebounds but was scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Heat failed to win eight straight for the first time since 2017.

The Heat sped out to a 22-1 lead as they made nine of their first 11 shots while the Bulls missed their first 11 attempts. After LaVine’s hoop ended Chicago’s drought, the Heat took a 24-3 lead on Butler’s basket with 3:59 remaining and the Bulls scored 11 straight before Adebayo sank a 16-footer with two-tenths of a second left.

The Bulls cut the deficit to 32-27 on DeRozan’s 3-pointer with 7:13 left in the second and trailed 35-33 with 5:32 left after consecutive hoops by White. Miami outscored Chicago 15-7 the rest of the half and held a 50-40 lead by halftime before taking a 76-68 advantage into the fourth.

DeRozan’s jumper made it 76-72 early in the fourth, and Miami started using a zone defense that initially worked but the Bulls got within 87-84 on LaVine’s 3-pointer with 5:54 left. DeRozan hit a layup to make it a one-point game with 3:26 left and hit a 3-pointer that forged a 94-94 deadlock with 89 seconds left to set up the dramatic final minute.

–Field Level Media