Josh Giddey finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh triple-double of the season and Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and 11 boards to boost the host Chicago Bulls to a 119-111 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
The Bulls (37-43) pulled a game ahead of the Heat (36-44) for the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference with next week’s play-in tournament looming.
A flurry midway through the third quarter helped Chicago lead by as many as 14 points before holding on. The Bulls overcame 16 turnovers.
The Heat drew within five points on Tyler Herro’s 3-pointer with 54.9 seconds remaining, but they came no closer.
Herro’s long-range attempt off a turnover rimmed out seconds later, and Chicago’s Matas Buzelis sealed the result with a trey with 31.2 seconds left.
Herro scored 30 points to pace Miami. Bam Adebayo added 18 points, followed by Davion Mitchell (17), Andrew Wiggins (14) and Kel’el Ware (12).
Wiggins returned from a six-game absence with a hamstring injury.
Kevin Huerter added 22 points for the Bulls. Coby White chipped in 18 points and Buzelis had 17. Vucevic added eight assists.
The Bulls also moved within a half-game of eighth-seeded Atlanta. In the play-in, the No. 7 seed team in each conference hosts the eighth-seeded team, while the No. 9 team hosts No. 10.
Chicago holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Miami after sweeping the three-game season series.
Miami surged to an 11-point lead in the first quarter, including a seven-point possession that helped extend the cushion. Alec Burks swished a 3-pointer and made a free throw after an ensuing flagrant foul. The Heat retained possession and added a trey from Adebayo.
In the closing stages of the second quarter, Giddey helped the Bulls take a 58-52 advantage into halftime. Back in the lineup after missing Tuesday’s loss in Cleveland due to injury management, he contributed five points in the last two minutes of the quarter, then found Dalen Terry for a corner 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
