Why the Miami Heat Might Hold the Key to the Chicago Bulls’ Playoff Curse

For three straight years, the Chicago Bulls have found themselves blocked at the postseason crossroads, falling yet again to the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-In Tournament. It’s almost like a twisted sequel nobody asked for, where every chapter ends the same—and it begs the question: are the Bulls stuck in some kind of basketball Groundhog Day? This season brought high hopes and sweeping roster shakeups—say goodbye to DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso got swapped for Josh Giddey, and Zach LaVine moved out the door—ushering in a fresh lineup and a brand-new, up-tempo playstyle loaded with threes. Yet, despite these radical overhauls and the buzz of change, the ending stayed cruelly predictable. For a franchise that’s limped through 11 years without a playoff series win—the longest drought in their history—it’s clear this isn’t just a hiccup. The Bulls need more than tweaks; they need a rebirth to flip the narrative and climb out of the shadows cast by their perennial post-season nemesis. So, what’s next for Chicago? Can they rewrite their fate, or are they doomed to keep flunking the Miami heat check? LEARN MORE

For the third year in a row, the Chicago Bulls have seen their season end in the NBA Play-In Tournament with a loss to the Miami Heat. What does it signal for the franchise?

The Chicago Bulls underwent some drastic changes this season: DeMar DeRozan wasn’t retained, Alex Caruso was traded for Josh Giddey, and Zach LaVine was traded to the Sacramento Kings.

Chicago’s starting lineup for Wednesday night’s NBA Play-In Tournament game featured Josh Giddey, Kevin Huerter and Matas Buzelis – all newcomers. The offensive style was completely changed from a season ago, with the Bulls playing up-tempo and shooting a lot of 3s.

The Bulls needed this season to be different. Yet at the end, it felt very similar to year’s past.

It was another year in the play-in tournament and another year that ended at the hands of the Miami Heat.

This marked the third straight season the Bulls lost to the Heat in the postseason, which has occurred between two teams only three times since 2010, and the other two involved LeBron James. The Indiana Pacers lost to the Miami Heat in 2012, ’13 and ’14, and the Toronto Raptors fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, ’17 and ’18.

In 2022, Max Strus saved the Heat, hitting seven 3-pointers and scoring 31 points as they beat the Bulls 102-91.

Last season, the game wasn’t nearly as competitive. Tyler Herro led the way with 24 points as Miami blew out Chicago 112-91.

Those 24 points were just an appetizer for this year’s play-in meeting. Herro had 38 points on 13-of-19 shooting as for the second straight year, Chicago didn’t have a perimeter defender who had a chance of guarding him.

Maybe this was the best thing for the Bulls. They went on a nice run at the end of the regular season, but a reality check against the Heat should make Chicago’s front office realize the team is still a long way from any type of real contention.

The Bulls have gone 11 straight years without a playoff series victory, the longest drought in franchise history. They last won a postseason series in 2015 against the Milwaukee Bucks when Giannis Antetoukounmpo was in second year in the league, and he got ejected from Game 6 for leveling Mike Dunleavy. The Bulls won that Game 6 in spectacular fashion, blowing out the Bucks 120-66.

But that feels like a lifetime ago. Pau Gasol was on that team and he’s been in the Basketball Hall of Fame for two years. Jimmy Butler was on his first of five teams. The only players left from that team still playing in the NBA are Butler, Doug McDermott and the seemingly immortal Taj Gibson.

These Bulls are a long way off from even those Bulls, much less the title-contending Bulls that preceded them. Regardless of any mild hype and media attention in recent weeks, they need a serious infusion of talent to be considered a true playoff threat again.

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