The Miami Heat managed to survive a valiant closing effort from the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Thursday. Both clubs were without key guards. The Heat were missing All-Star shooting guard Tyler Herro, while Chicago point guard Josh Giddey sat out on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Miami, despite carrying a middling 10-15 road record into the clash (against a 15-10 Bulls home record), managed to prevail, behind a balanced attack. Seven Heat players finished in double figures, paced by stars Norman Powell (21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line) and Bam Adebayo (a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double). Reserve forward Jaime Jaquez notched a 19-point, 10-board double-double off the Heat bench.
How The Heat Survived A Bulls Push
The Heat looked like the superior squad from the jump, ably getting Chicago’s best defender into foul trouble early. Swingman Isaac Okoro was whistled for his third personal foul halfway through the second quarter, with Miami already leading by double digits at the time. Head coach Billy Donovan opted to leave Okoro on the floor at first. Jalen Smith had extended his career-best run of consecutive double-digit scoring nights to 10 by the break, chipping in 11 points.
Sadly, that was all Chicago got out of the 6-foot-8 Maryland product. He was held out of the second half due to right calf tightness, according to The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi.
The Heat built up a solid double-digit edge at the break, 62-51, at halftime.
Chicago appeared to be ready to pack it in earlier than they had Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers. A three-minute scoring draught midway through the third frame looked like it would be the Bulls’ last will and testament.
But then things started to shift late into the fourth frame. At one point, the ever-scheming Donovan trotted out a small-ball lineup to kick off the home stretch of the fourth fame: Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Isaac Okoro, Matas Buzelis and Patrick Williams. Center Nikola Vucevic and shooting guard Coby White were quickly subbed in, however.
With Miami leading by 10 points and less than four minutes remaining in regulation, the game looked to be all but over late.
Then, Ayo Dosunmu happened.
AYO DOSUNMU IS DOING IT ALL ?15 IN THE FOURTH AND A HUGE DEFENSIVE STOP HERE IN CRUNCH TIMEHIGHEST-SCORING QUARTER OF HIS CAREER pic.twitter.com/sTRdCu1Hz1
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) January 30, 2026Chicago’s reserve combo guard went on a personal 7-0 scoring run to pull his hometown team within a possession, 110-107, with under two minutes left. He chipped in a whopping 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter alone to help Chicago stay within striking distance late.
Nikola Vucevic bungled a 3-point attempt, but quickly recovered to score over his undersized defender Andrew Wiggins in the paint. The Bulls trailed once again by three points. A sloppy Coby White pass gifted the Heat possession via a Pelle Larsson steal.
Dosunmu attempted to steal the rock from Norman Powell. Powell held Dosunmu back, and was whistled for making a play for the ball — although it looked like a transition/take foul, which would have given Dosunmu one free throw plus a Bulls possession. Dosunmu nailed both his free throw attempts to close the gap to a single point, 112-111, with 10.1 seconds left in regulation. It capped off a bravura 11-2 run for Chicago.
The Heat had possession and plenty of time to set up a shot. Powell was fouled quickly, icing both his charity stripe takes to put Miami up by just three points, 114-111, with 8.9 seconds remaining.
Coby White drew a foul and made both his looks, pulling the Bulls within a point, 114-113. 7.1 seconds were left in the fourth frame after this.
After shaking a tripped-up Isaac Okoro on an inbounds pass, Heat forward Pelle Larsson slipped to the rack for an easy lay-in, putting Miami up by the game’s final margin, 116-113. The defeat — Chicago’s third straight — drops the Bulls to a 23-25 record on the year.
The Bulls had a dismal shooting line, connecting on just 39.4 percent of their tries from the floor overall. Chicago also coughed up the ball a ton, yielding 15 turnovers in the scrum. Miami scored 23 of its points off those turnovers. Aside from Dosunmu, the Bulls were shy to score in the interior — the Heat bested them in the paint by a massive margin, 60-38.
The Bulls and Heat will next square off on the road in back-to-back tilts this weekend.
Bulls MVP of the Night: Ayo Dosunmu, who almost singlehandedly helped the Bulls stage a late comeback. The 6-foot-4 Illinois alum finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field (1-of-4 from distance) and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, plus seven rebounds and five assists.
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