Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat caught fire down the stretch on Friday to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 and reach the NBA playoffs, as the Minnesota Timberwolves dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder to book their post-season berth.
Miami, smarting from a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, clinched the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final seed to set up a meeting with the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks today.
Minnesota are to face Western Conference top seeds Denver in the first round of the playoffs after a comprehensive 120-95 blowout of Oklahoma City.
Photo: Sam Navarro-USA Today
While Minnesota romped into the post-season, Miami’s clash with Chicago went down to the wire before Butler, helped by the three-pointers of Max Strus, secured victory for coach Erik Spoelstra’s team.
Butler put up 31 points, a tally matched by Strus who shot 7-12 on three-pointers, including a crucial 26 foot jumper with 1 minute, 14 seconds left that put Miami 96-91 up.
For Strus, who grew up as a Bulls fan in the suburbs of Chicago and was released by them before joining Miami, it was a sweet night.
“It’s huge. It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing — we had to win this one, no matter what. It was win or go home and we’re not done yet,” Strus said.
“So we want to keep playing and it’s good to get that one, but it does feel a little bit better against them, I’m not gonna lie,” he said.
Strus secured the win with three free throws after he was fouled by Alex Caruso as he tried to make a throw from the corner.
The Heat had been 14 points up in the first quarter but a 12-2 run from the Bulls in the third leveled the game up at 56-56.
A Zach LaVine dunk then put Chicago up for the first time since the opening basket of the game, and three three-pointers early in the fourth from Coby White ensured the Bulls were 90-87 with 3 minutes to go.
However, Butler and Strus then took control.
Butler was fouled while making a layup and then Bam Adebayo, who grabbed 17 rebounds, sank two free throws after he was fouled by Nikola Vucevic to make it 93-90.
Butler set up Strus for a three-pointer before he made sure of the victory from the free-throw line.
DeMar DeRozan top scored for the Bulls with 26 points and nine assists.
In Minneapolis, the Timberwolves demolished Oklahoma City.
Minnesota led by as many as 29 points at one stage in the fourth quarter and were up by double digits for most of the second half.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves scoring with 28 points, while all five starters finished in double figures.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS