MIAMI (AP) — Ayo Dosunmu scored a season-high 29 points and the short-handed Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat 125-118 on Saturday night.
Dosunmu added nine assists and eight rebounds. Matas Buzelis scored 21 points and Isaac Okoro also scored 20 points for the Bulls, who hit 20 three-pointers.
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Pelle Larsson scored 22 points and Bam Adebayo scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat tied the game four times in the final 3 minutes and 37 seconds but never regained the lead in any of the possessions. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points for Miami.
The teams play again Sunday in Miami. It will be the first time since Baltimore and Houston in 1972 that two NBA teams have played three consecutive games in the same regular season; the Heat defeated Chicago in a rescheduled game on Thursday night.
Two quick timeouts paid off for the Bulls.
Chicago head coach Billy Donovan called the game with 1:16 to play; his team immediately went on a 12-0 run. With 1 minute and 25 seconds left in the third quarter, he once again declared the game over, with the team trailing by 11 points; the Bulls then went on a 10-0 run to lead 91-84 in the fourth quarter.
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Six of the Bulls’ nine highest-paid players — Josh Guidy (hamstring), Nikola Vucevic (rest), Zach Collins (toe), Coby White (calf), Jalen Smith (calf) and Tre Jones (hamstring) — who combined to earn about $94 million this season for various reasons, are out of the lineup.
Miami was without four of its six players, with Norman Powell (personal reasons), Davion Mitchell (shoulder), Tyler Herro (ribs) and Terry Rozier (on leave due to federal gambling charges) all missing for the night. They account for approximately $89 million of Miami’s salary cap this season.
Miami only used backup center Kyle Ware for 3 minutes and 11 seconds in the first half, and his night ended prematurely.
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