Takeaways & Player Grades: Miami Heat 134, Chicago Bulls 91

After picking up their first win of the season against the Miami Heat on Saturday night, the Chicago Bulls played their worst game of the 2025-26 season.

The Heat punched them in the mouth from the start and wouldn't stop swinging. They built a lead as large as 54 points and dominated in every facet of the game. For a Chicago Bulls team that is fresh off making a move to add future draft capital, tonight's 134-91 loss certainly suggested that more of those transactions could be on the horizon.

3 Takeaways

An Offensive Disaster

The Chicago Bulls were a mess from the moment the ball was tipped.

Miami looked like they took Saturday night's loss against this same depleted team personally. They were hounding every ball-handler and forcing Chicago into contested jumpers on nearly every possession down the floor. It led to the Bulls starting the night with only four made baskets over the first 12 minutes of the game. This included going 1-12 from downtown in the first quarter, which resulted in a 34-13 deficit.

Those 13 points marked the fewest scored by Chicago in any quarter this season. And, unfortunately, that only foreshadowed what would be the ugliest performance by the Bulls in quite some time. They were never able to recover and finished the night shooting a season-low 32.2 percent from the field. This included a 6-41 shooting effort from behind the arc. The last time they failed to make more than 6 shots from long range was on February 6, 2023.

Turnovers also proved to be an issue for the second straight night. After overcoming 24 mistakes one evening prior, the Bulls coughed it up 18 times and allowed the Heat to win the points off turnovers battle 23-8.

At the end of the day, as far as offensive performances go, this was among the worst we have ever seen by this organization. K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network even noted that tonight ended up being the 10th-worst margin of defeat in franchise history.

A Defense Disaster

You don't lose by 43 points without falling apart on both sides of the ball!

As bad as things were offensively, the Bulls looked equally as lost on the other side of the ball. Miami abused them in the paint to the tune of 72 points. They ended the evening with shooting 50.5 percent from the field and dishing a franchise record 44 assists. A total of six players finished with at least four dimes, as creating offense both in transition and in the halfcourt proved far too easy.

Indeed, it wasn't even as if the Heat feasted on second-chance points (+8) or dominated at the charity stripe. In fact, the Bulls ended up vastly outperforming them at the line, finishing a +17 in made free throws. It was genuinely the ball movement and interior dominance that led the Heat to such a lopsided victory.

Look, we all recognize that this was the Bulls' fourth game in five days. We can also recognize that Miami, in particular, has been a thorn in this team's side. But that still doesn't justify a loss of this magnitude, particularly when you welcome back two of your (well-rested) Top 3 leading scorers.

Speaking of which ...

T-Minus One Game Until the Trade Deadline

The Chicago Bulls made their first move of the NBA trade deadline on Saturday night, taking back Dario Saric in an effort to add two future second-round draft picks. All things considered, I think it's safe to say that tonight's loss makes it feel as if more of those moves are just around the corner.

This three-game series oddly couldn't have come at a better time for the organization. Rattling off a four-game win streak before dropping two straight to the Lakers and Pacers, this rare three-game regular-season stretch with the Heat was going to tell the front office a lot. Was this slightly younger Bulls team finally headed in the right direction, or were they very much on the same directionless path?

The Heat have ended the Chicago Bulls' season in three-straight Play-In Tournaments, and they looked more than capable of doing it again tonight. If anything, this game should have shown Arturas Karnisovas that if he sticks with the status quo over the next couple of days, an all-too-familiar outcome is awaiting him in April. It's time for serious change.

Chicago Bulls Player Grades

EVERYONE BUT YUKI KAWAMURA – DETENTION
Stats: Bad

Yuki Kawamura – B
Stats: 6 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST

For the second straight game, the shortest player in the NBA clocked meaningful minutes for the Chicago Bulls. Head coach Billy Donovan first turned to him for a spark in a disastrous first quarter, and he would go on to finish the night a shocking +2 in his 27 minutes of action. At this rate, Bulls fans could be seeing A LOT of Yuki Kawamura over the last couple of months of the season.