Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/16/2025

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Venue:  United Center, Chicago, IL 

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Heat +1, Bulls -1; Over/Under:  219 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Heat +1, Bulls -1; Over/Under:  219 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Heat +1.5, Bulls -1.5; Over/Under:  218.5 points

Miami Heat:  37-45 (3rd place, Southeast Division)

Chicago Bulls:  39-43 (5th place, Central Division)

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Miami Heat:  6-4 last 10

Chicago Bulls:  7-3 last 10

The Heat are entering this game with a 37-45 record overall this season and they are 17-23 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Washington Wizards. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the team in points in that game with 41 while Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson each were next on the team with 17 points. Davion Mitchell led the team in assists in that game with 8 while Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the team in rebounds with 10. They were 50% from the field, 31.3% from 3-point range, and 83.3% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 110.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 110 PPG against them. The Heat have an ATS record of 38-43-1 this season and their O/U record is 44-38.

The Bulls are entering this game with a 39-43 record overall this season and they are 18-23 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 3 game winning streak with wins coming against the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Kevin Huerter led the team in points in that game with 18 while Talen Horton-Tucker was next on the team with 17 points. Talen Horton-Tucker led the team in assists in that game with 6 while Jalen Smith led the team in rebounds with 10. They were 45.6% from the field, 32.5% from 3-point range, and 75% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 117.8 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 119.4 PPG against them. The Bulls have an ATS record of 43-37-2 this season and their O/U record is 42-39-1.

The current betting odds have the Bulls listed as a 1 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Bulls haven't looked good in their games this season with their 39-43 record overall, but that record was enough to get them into this play-in tournament. They haven't looked great on their home court this year with their 18-23 home record, but they have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the last month. Meanwhile, the Heat haven't looked good in their games this season with their 37-45 record overall, but that record was just enough to give them this opportunity to make the playoffs. They haven't been a good road team though with their 17-23 road record. The Heat were really hot back in March and looked like they were going to get one of those 7th or 8th place spots in this tournament, but they have cooled off a lot over the last 2 weeks. They are still 6-4 in their last 10 games, but they are coming off a loss to the Wizards to end the regular season and will be on the road for this game. The Bulls haven't had a good season, but they have been really hot lately and can carry some of that momentum into this play-in tournament. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games and they ended the regular season with 3 wins in a row. Neither of these teams have been good this year and neither team really deserves this opportunity to make the playoffs with the way they played all season, but the recent momentum along with the home advantage should be enough for the Bulls to edge out the Heat and get to the next game for the 8th seed in the East. The best way to place a bet here is on the Bulls to cover the spread in this game. 

Heat Bulls Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Wednesday, April 16, 2025 (7:30 pm ET start time) is Bulls 116 Heat 111.

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Miami Heat: 24-36 ATS against Central division opponents. 16-22 ATS on the road when the line is +3 to -3. 10-19 ATS off an upset loss as a home favorite. 23-16 UNDER on the road when the line is +3 to -3. 10-5 UNDER off a loss against a division rival. 

Chicago Bulls: 36-20 ATS against Southeast division opponents. 6-0 ATS off a road blowout win by 20 points or more. 22-15 ATS when playing with 2 days rest. 35-21 UNDER against Southeast division opponents. 37-24 UNDER as a home favorite.

Miami Heat:  A. Wiggins (SF) Day To Day - Hamstring. A. Burks (SG) Day To Day - Back. P. Larsson (SG) Day To Day - Ankle. I. Stevens (PG) Day To Day - Foot. K. Love (PF) Day To Day - Personal. N. Jovic (PF) Day To Day - Hand. D. Smith (PG) Out For Season - Achilles.

Chicago Bulls:  J. Giddey (PG) Day To Day - Forearm. T. Jones (PG) Day To Day - Foot. L. Ball (PG) Day To Day - Wrist. A. Dosunmu (SG) Out For Season - Shoulder.

“You want to be mindful that you don’t over-clutter the mind. We’re at our best when we have great clarity. And we know what our game is at this point. We know what their game is. We’ve played them three times in the last two months. So, we will do a little bit more prep than a normal regular season game ... but I don’t want oversaturation of information to slow us down.” - Erik Spoelstra on his team playing in the play-in tournament.

“The game Wednesday [will] be the last game of the year if we don’t win, so we have to throw everything we’ve got into that game. I’m a big believer that each game is its own individual. What’s in the past is in the past. You can take things from games, but this is totally fresh and new, everything is new.” - Billy Donovan on his team playing the Heat in the play-in tournament.

PG Tyler Herro 

SG Alec Burks

SF Andrew Wiggins

PF Bam Adebayo

C Kel'el Ware

PG Josh Giddey 

SG Kevin Huerter

SF Coby White

PF Matas Buzelis

C Nikola Vucevic

PPG: T. Herro (23.9)

APG: T. Herro (5.5)

Reb/G: B. Adebayo (9.6)

PPG: C. White (20.4)

APG: J. Giddey (7.2)

Reb/G: N. Vučević (10.1)

Coaches:

Miami Heat: Erik Spoelstra (17th season)

Chicago Bulls: Billy Donovan (5th season)