Challenges? This Miami Heat team seemingly can’t get enough.
Friday night, it was having to go without sidelined Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins and Nikola Jovic.
It also was having to win to stay alive in the NBA Cup in-season tournament.
And it was against an opponent that served as a reminder of failing to advance directly to the playoffs the past three seasons.
So Erik Spoelstra’s team made a statement.
Shorthanded? Not with this depth.
NBA Cup determination? Seemingly, with the Heat failing to advance to the knockout round in the event’s first two renditions.
Sick of the play-in? Hard not to remember, since the Chicago Bulls were an opponent in each of the past three years in that round.
So Miami Heat 143, Chicago Bulls 107 at the United Center, the Heat’s most-lopsided victory in the 38-season rivalry between the teams.
“It’s big time that we were able to look down the bench and we got the youth and the ability to come in and guys can step up,” said guard Norman Powell.
This one was with feeling.
And plenty of credit to go around.
There were 19 points from Powell, who pushed through another groin strain, 18 from Bam Adebayo, 16 from Davion Mitchell, as well as 20 points and 14 rebounds from Kel’el Ware, who was back in the starting lineup.
There even were a career-high 12 rebounds and 14 points from Keshad Johnson. Yes, Keshad Johnson, as the Heat moved to 10-6.
To Spoelstra, even with another offensive breakout, it also was about the defense.
“Guys were really taking the challenge, making it tough on them,” he said.
“And then offensively, that definitely looked more like how we looked 10 days ago, two weeks ago. The pace was solid, sharing the ball. And from sharing the ball, we were able to really attack and put some pressure on them.”
So make it 2-1 for the Heat in pool play in the NBA Cup with one game remaining, and perhaps as significant, a +46 margin of victory so far in Cup play, with that one of the prime tiebreakers in the in-season tournament.
“We’re going for it,” Spoelstra said.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat led 36-32 after the first quarter, went up by 25 in the second period, and led 70-52 at halftime.
The Heat then completely blew the game open in the third quarter, moving to a 102-75 lead entering the fourth.
Mitchell had nine points and three assists in the third quarter to all but decide it, with the Heat closing that period on a 15-2 run.
The Heat limited the Bulls to 6-of-26 shooting in the third, including 3 of 15 on 3-pointers.
“It shows you we’ve got guys that go in there, stay ready, and make an impact on the game,” Ware said of being shorthanded not leaving the Heat short.
2. Back in: With Wiggins out, Ware moved back into the starting lineup a game after being bumped out by Adebayo’s return from his six-game absence.
Ware now has started 12 of his 16 appearances this season, having started six in a row before Wednesday night’s effort off the bench against the visiting Golden State Warriors.
Ware extended his career-best streak to seven consecutive games with double-digit rebounds.
“I can go in the game any moment and what the team needs is rebounds,” Ware said. “I can go in there with any unit, at any time, and impact the team that way.”
3. Powell out, in: The rotation briefly got further muddled when Powell left 7:26 into the game with a strained left groin.
Powell missed three games earlier this season with a strained right groin, a victory over the Charlotte Hornets and losses to the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers.
This time, Powell returned to the bench by the end of the opening period, briefly rode the stationary bike in the tunnel leading to the locker room, and returned with 8:24 left in the second period.
“I just felt it on that last layup I had in the first (quarter) and wanted to get it checked and make sure that there was nothing more serious than that,” he said. “We wrapped it up, did a little test and I’m always going to try to fight through pain and injuries.”
He was up to 15 points by halftime, with 10 in the second period, able to sit out the fourth quarter because of the lopsided score.
Along the way, Powell converted his 1,000th career 3-pointer.
“He’s very aware because of what he went through earlier,” Spoelstra said. “But it wasn’t the same thing, and he loosened up, got checked out by the trainers and he assured us that he was ready to go.”
4. Keshad time: With Wiggins and Jovic out and with Pelle Larsson called for two fouls in the game’s opening 2:35, Johnson went from the end of the bench to the rotation, entering with 4:34 remaining in the first period.
By halftime, Johnson already had tied his career high of eight rebounds, matching the total he had in his five previous appearances this season.
Having played 24 total minutes this season prior to Friday, Johnson played 29:28, surpassing his previous minutes total by the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
“It’s a next-man mentality,” Johnson said. “kind of like Coach Spo told me to be ready and just do what I do, bring energy, and that’s what I was able to bring. With Wiggs’ minutes being gone and Jovic’s minutes being gone, everybody got to step up.”
5. The Cup: With the victory, the Heat lifted their record to 2-1 in the NBA Cup, with Wednesday night’s home game against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks remaining in its pool-play schedule in the in-season tournament.
The Bucks lead the pool at 2-0, with pool-play games for Milwaukee remaining against the Heat and New York Knicks.
Among the tiebreakers for both winning a group or receiving the conference’s wild-card berth to advance to the knockout quarterfinal round is margin of victory.
“Also I wanted to be responsible,” Spoelstra said. “We didn’t have any other guys. So I had to play the guys that are out there. But everybody is aware of it. I think we finished appropriately.”
All games in the NBA Cup except the Dec. 16 championship game in Las Vegas count toward the regular-season standings.
The Heat failed to advance to the knockout round in the event’s first two years, in 2023 and ’24.