Erik Spoelstra details ‘deflationary’ loss to short-handed Bulls

MIAMI – Although it is The Miami Heat missed key starters for Saturday’s rematch against the Chicago Bulls, the team still suffered a 125-118 loss that was as frustrating a game as it has been this season. With The heat is trying to get out of eighth seed purgatorySaturday’s game was not a step in the right direction as a head coach Erik Spoelstra talked about what led to the disappointing loss.

Miami is down Norman Powell (personal reasons), Davion Mitchell (shoulder), i Tyler Herro (ribs), but Chicago was without Josh Giddy, Nikola Vucevic, Kobe White, Jalen Smith and others.

Spoelstra has mentioned before that the defensive disposition has led to their recent mistakes, but while it was tonight, he ran into problems with the team losing possession and seven turnovers in the final quarter when the score was close. Those turnovers that Spoelstra mentions were “deflation”, which leads to loss.

“The mood was there. It was a frenetic pace,” Spoelstra told ClutchPoints. “We were just getting a shot off the dribble or in the post, and then I think we made six 3-pointers in the last four seconds of the shot.”

“In the fourth quarter, it got really lopsided with seven turnovers; it was hard to get traction. You know, except when we went to Bam (Adebayo) and he was trying to go for it, but the seven turnovers really cut it for our offense in the fourth.”

Asked Erik Spoelstra about missing a great opportunity against the Bulls tonight and what he thought about the defensive mindset.

“The mood was… It was a frenetic pace…. We were just getting beaten off the dribble or beaten in the post…” #HeatNation

Full answer: pic.twitter.com/pkMi7eLKSBO

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 1, 2026

Adebayo finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Pele Larson stood out with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 20 off the bench with seven assists and six rebounds, while Andrew Wiggins had 17.

Two-way player Myron Gardner made his first start in his NBA career due to absences and recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Middling first half for the Heat against the undermanned Bulls

This game could be deceiving, as the Bulls were missing key players Josh Giddy, Nikola Vucevic, Kobe White and others. The supporting cast made it difficult for Miami to start the game though. After a quick Bulls timeout, with Miami scoring just three minutes into that time, Chicago came back intent on upping the tempo, catching the Heat off guard.

What resulted was Miami committing four early turnovers and making just one of its eight field goal attempts to start. The slow start could be attributed to the team missing Norman Powell for “personal reasons” as well as Tyler Hero and Davion Mitchell on Saturday night.

It would be a disappointing first quarter for the Heat, though, as the Bulls scored 14 points on fast breaks and 16 in the game.

The second quarter was a stabilization period for Miami as they got into some rhythm offensively with some play from Jaime Jaquez Jr., Simone Fontechio, Myron Gardner and Pelle Larsson. After struggling in the first quarter, the Heat played faster in the second as the second unit gave the team the energy it needed to take the lead over Chicago.

Like Erik Spoelstra and Bam Adebayo emphasize, a disruption in defense will lead to offense, which was shown in the second period, which led to a quarter of 38 points, which led to nine turnovers.

One key story was that Kel’el Ware was one of the first players to come off the bench, but he only played three minutes and 11 seconds. It turned out to be his only move of the entire game.

Close, but no cigar for the game against the Bulls

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Miami got off to a good start with a 4-0 run, but Chicago called an early timeout with not even two minutes left in the period. The Bulls would then go on a hot run, scoring 10 straight points to close the gap.

Got the gist? The same thing happened with the start of the game in the first quarter, and Chicago gained perspective and focus after the first few minutes of the half. The remainder of the third quarter continues a troubling trend the Heat have had for quite some time, which is a lackluster start to the second half.

The Bulls played the game they wanted, scoring 13 more points in fast break situations, shooting close to 60 percent from the field and eight of 12 from deep. Miami’s numbers were significantly worse, shooting 31.8 percent from the field and making just one 3-pointer out of 12 attempts.

Looking at the fourth quarter, the Heat would be out of their minds and playing basketball when they are most successful, especially when it comes to the captain, Adebayo. Entering the final stretch, Adebayo had a quiet night with six points, but finished the game with 21, as there was even a stretch where he scored a team-high 12 points.

Miami and Chicago would trade haymakers back and forth near the end of the final frame, but it was Ayo Dosunmu who squelched any momentum the Heat had, leading to a dagger triple off an assist from Matas Bouzelis to end the game.

Either way, Miami is now 26-24 and looking to get the bad taste out of their mouths Sunday night in a third straight game against the Bulls.