The Miami Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls to progress in the NBA play-in tournament – beating the six-time Championship winners 109-90.
Tyler Herro scored 38 points as the Heat set up a game against the Atlanta Hawks, with the winner earning the right to take on top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference play-offs.
The Heat’s victory came after three regular-season defeats by the Bulls.
“Chicago humbled us this year,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“They have a unique style of play, the way they play with that pace, and they score.
“They had two games where we felt like we were in control of the game both times in the fourth quarter and they came storming back and had some impressive scoring quarters. Our guys really respected how much they could score.”
Should Miami beat the Hawks, they would achieve a franchise record of reaching the play-offs for a sixth consecutive season.
Mavs to face Grizzlies
In the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings 120-106 to set-up a play-in tie against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points – 16 of which came in the second quarter alone – to advance against the Grizzlies.
The winner of that tie will take on top-seeded Oklahoma City in the opening play-off game.
NBA acknowledge officiating errors
The play-in tournament features the teams who finished in seventh to 10th in both Conferences.
They face off to determine who fills the final two spots in their Conference play-offs.
Under the play-in format, seventh play eighth – with the winners going straight into the play-offs. The loser gets a second chance against the winners of an eliminator between ninth and 10th.
The Grizzlies, who finished eighth in the Western Conference, go into the ‘second chance’ game against the Mavericks having lost their first play-in tie, to the seventh-placed Golden State Warriors, in controversial circumstances.
The Warriors secured their play-off spot following a late flurry against the Grizzlies.
However, the NBA has since acknowledged officiating errors in the final moments of the match.
With the Warriors leading 117-116, the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report said the Grizzlies should have been awarded the ball with 7.6 seconds left after Stephen Curry got the last contact on an out-of-bounds play.
It was Curry that then sank two free throws to give the Warriors a 119-116 lead.