Heat beat Bulls to earn 1st-round matchup vs Bucks

MIAMI On the eve of training camp, Chicago Bulls executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas said his goal for this season was improvement.

The Bulls didn’t achieve it during the regular season, dropping from sixth place to 10th and from 46 victories to 40. And it won’t happen in the playoffs.

The Bulls failed to qualify, losing Friday night’s play-in elimination to the Miami Heat 102-91 despite erasing an early 14-point deficit and leading by six in the final period.

Jimmy Butler’s scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Heat, who advance to a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Max Strus added 31 points, including a dagger 3-pointer late. He shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc.

The Bulls scored one point and no field goals over the final 3 minutes, 46 seconds following a massive 3-pointer from Coby White, who sank two big ones in the final period. They missed their final seven shots.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists. Zach LaVine suffered through a nightmare game, shooting 6-for-21 with five turnovers. He also had three of the Bulls’ final seven misses.

After the Raptors game, her father chuckled at the commotion surrounding his daughter.

“She went viral,” DeRozan said. “I haven’t let it soak in yet. But that’s her. I kept hearing something during the game and somebody missed and I looked back and I was like ‘Damn, that’s my daughter screaming?'”