The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 131-116 in the NBA Play-In Tournament, Wednesday.
They will compete Friday for the No. 8 seed against the Miami Heat, and the winner will face the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics.
Bulls Key Contributors
The main stars for the Bulls were Coby White, Demar Derozan, Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu and Javonte Green.
White had a season-high 42 points, nine rebounds and six assists while shooting 71.4 % from the field. Derozan had 22 points, six rebounds and nine assists while shooting 52.6% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line.
PSA: COBY WHITE SHOULD BE MIP.
42 pts | 15-21 FG | 9 reb | 6 ast | 2 stl pic.twitter.com/DKEfKgSmqj
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 18, 2024
Vucevic had an impressive double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Dosunmu had 19 points and three assists while shooting 66.7% from the field and 75% from the 3-point line.
Green was a game-changer despite the posting just 10 points.
JAVONTE DOWN THE LANE.@2Xtremebounce | #SeeRed pic.twitter.com/GbiPM3ICKu
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 18, 2024
Honorable Mentions for the Hawks
Key players for the Hawks included Dejonte Murray, Clint Capela, Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Murray had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists while shooting 52.4% from the field. Capela had a double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds on an impressive 73.3 shooting percentage.
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1780786023456272657
Young had a double-double with 22 points and 1o assists. Bogdanovic had 21 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Up Next
The No. 9-seed Bulls will play the No. 8-seed Heat on Friday. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Miami is coming off of a 105-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday. Chicago might be catching a break, as the Heat’s Jimmy Butler is expected to miss the remainder of the playoffs due to a MCL injury. In the regular season, the Heat and Bulls split the season series 2-2. Their last matchup came on Dec. 16 where Miami came out on top 118-116.
Miami will have home court advantage and posted a 22-19 record at home during the regular season. Chicago had a 19-22 road record on the year, and they won two of their final three regular season games away from Chicago to close the regular season.