The Chicago Bulls had their clock cleaned, 108-93, by an equally banged-up Detroit Pistons club on Wednesday. Now, the Bulls will square off against another higher-seeded Eastern Conference team in the Miami Heat.
Chicago has looked a bit hapless without starting point guard Josh Giddey available, having gone 2-3 in his absence. Of course, it hasn’t helped that starting two-guard Coby White has missed four of those games, power forward/center Jalen Smith has missed a pair, and center Zach Collins just sat out his sixth straight.
These Heat are no great shakes, per se. They’ve gone 5-5 across their last 10 games, and are hovering a scant three games over .500 on the year. While Miami boasts several quality players, the team still lacks that superstar piece to take them back to the NBA Finals. Still, they’re way more cohesively constructed than the Bulls. And quite a bit healthier.
© David Banks-Imagn ImagesGame Info
The Chicago Bulls (17-20) host the Miami Heat (20-17) – 7 p.m. CT on Chicago Sports Network (TV) and 670 The Score (Radio).
Chicago Bulls
Tre Jones Coby White Isaac Okoro Matas Buzelis Nikola VucevicMiami Heat
Davion Mitchell Norman Powell Andrew Wiggins Bam Adebayo Kel’el WareGame Lines
The Heat are 7.5-point favorites to win on the road, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Different Isaiah, Same Nightmare! Bulls 93, Pistons 108 – January 7, 2026What To Watch For
How Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra — the pride of Evanston — will employ All-Star shooting guard Tyler Herro remains a bit of a question. On Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Herro played his first game with the team in nearly a month. He had been dealing with a right big toe contusion. Between that and an offseason ankle surgery, the 25-year-old has only suited up for eight of the Heat’s 37 games thus far this season. Spoelstra opted to ease the 6-foot-5 Kentucky product back into things by limiting him to a reserve role. It also likely helped that Miami’s starting lineup had notched +18.0 net rating in their time on the court together across the previous four games. But the Heat got blown out by 28 points. Herro chipped in 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field (1-of-4 from deep), nine rebounds, and three assists in 28:37 off the Heat’s bench. It’s likely time for Spoelstra to consider demoting defense-first guard Davion Mitchell. If he does, and Herro returns, Chicago’s starting backcourt will have its hands full defensively between Herro and Norman Powell. Chicago’s big gimmick this year has been its breakneck pace, currently ranked third in the league. The first-ranked Heat, meanwhile, represent the rare opponent who won’t even be mildly phased. Miami’s revamped, fast-breaking offense represents a fun 180 reversal of its half-court-heavy Jimmy Butler-era approach. The Heat, favoring a pass-happy approach, have opted to largely skip pick-and-roll actions altogether. Second-year center Kel’el Ware has developed a bit faster than perhaps even the Heat expected. Spoelstra faces a happy conundrum: how to allocate minutes for Ware and fellow non-shooting big Bam Adebayo, who heretofore had been Miami’s starting center. Lately, Adebayo has been slid to a power forward role to accommodate Ware in the middle. Unfortunately, this clogs up the team’s attack in the modern NBA, as neither can shoot a trey. Still, both are top-notch defenders, and against a Chicago frontcourt missing two key cogs should be fairly helpless. Patrick Williams had a golden opportunity in these five games without Giddey, Collins, (mostly) White or (sometimes) Smith. The Bulls combo forward had been on the fringes of Billy Donovan’s rotations for weeks, but was suddenly pressed into service. In the first two contests, Williams was a happy release valve off the bench, averaging 13.5 points on 58.8 percent shooting. But his production across these last three contests — all losses — has cratered. He’s averaging just 2.7 points on 18.8 percent shooting, 3.0 rebounds, and a -7.7 plus-minus. Williams may have had the physical ceiling to become a legit NBA player, but he has never been able to feel out a game. As Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune notes, it’s only been getting worse.Pat's handles have essentially depreciated with time. Very strange to watch. Still struggling with basic aspects of court awareness that even his teammates with fewer tools (i.e. Dalen and Julian) have figured out.
— Julia Poe (@juliapoe.bsky.social) 2026-01-08T01:41:01.398ZInjury Report
Chicago Bulls
Noa Essengue OUT (shoulder) Josh Giddey OUT (left hamstring) Jalen Smith OUT (concussion) Zach Collins OUT (right first toe) Kevin Huerter QUESTIONABLE (back)Miami Heat
Jamie Jaquez Jr. DAY-TO-DAY (ankle) Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesHence then, the article about pre gamin bulls vs heat 7 pm ct projected lineups how to watch more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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