Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson scored 20 points each as the host Miami Heat routed the Chicago Bulls 134-91 on Sunday night.
The Heat, who never trailed, won the season series 3-1. Miami led by as many as 54 points.
Miami point guard Davion Mitchell, who had been out with a shoulder injury, returned and provided 13 points and six assists. The Heat won convincingly despite still being without two starters in Tyler Herro (ribs) and Norman Powell (personal reasons).
Powell, 32, was named an NBA All-Star for the first time on Sunday.
Chicago was led by Coby White, who had 16 points.
Two Bulls starters returned to the starting lineup. Nikola Vucevic, who missed Saturday’s game due to rest, and White, who had a calf injury. Vucevic scored 12 points.
The Bulls were still without Josh Giddey (hamstring), Zach Collins (toe), Jalen Smith (calf) and Tre Jones (hamstring).
This was the third game between these teams in four days, the first time in 54 years that two NBA teams played three straight regular-season games against each other.
Miami, which got off to an 8-0 start and a few minutes later had a 14-0 run, led 34-13 by the end of the first quarter.
Larsson led all first-quarter scorers with 13 points. It’s the highest-scoring quarter of his brief NBA career as Miami shot 50%. Chicago shot just 20%, making 1 of 12 3-pointers.
The second quarter featured 12 points by Adebayo as Miami increased its lead to 62-40 at halftime.
Chicago shot poorly again in the second quarter – 32% overall and 1-for-9 from deep.
Miami stretched its lead to 101-62 by the end of the third quarter, and it was more of the same in the fourth.
For the game, Miami outscored Chicago in the paint 72-44. Miami shot 50.5% from the floor and made 14 of 38 3-pointers (36.8%). Chicago shot 32.2% from the floor and 6-for-41 from deep (14.6%).
–Field Level Media
