Heat gets big nights from Herro and Jaquez, beats Bulls to advance to playoffs vs. Boston

What would springtime be without a Heat-Celtics playoff series?

For the fourth time in five years, Miami and Boston will meet in postseason.

But for the first time during this era of Heat-Celtics, it won’t be in the Eastern finals. And it won’t include Jimmy Butler, who’s out for several weeks with a knee injury.

But at least Miami made it to the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, overcoming injuries to Butler and Terry Rozier and beating Chicago, 112-91, in a play-in elimination game on Friday at Kaseya Center.

The Heat-Celtics series will begin in Boston, with Game 1 at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC, and Game 2 on Wednesday night on TNT and Bally Sports Sun. The series then shifts to South Florida for Game 3 at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 27 and Game 4 on Monday night, April 29.

“I have an appreciation just to make the playoffs, for things you can’t buy,” Erik Spoelstra said. “We had to do it the hard way just to get this first ticket punched. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be in the playoffs and grateful for this locker room to have the opportunity.”

Miami controlled matters much of the game, leading by 20 midway through the second quarter, teetering a bit and then taking control again late in the third.

Ahead by nine, the Heat unleashed a 12-0 run to go up 22 after three. The Bulls could never recover, and by midway through the fourth, the Heat’s lead had swelled to 29.

Tyler Herro was at the epicenter of everything on Friday, falling just short of a triple double. He scored 12 of his 24 points in the third quarter, while snagging 10 rebounds and dishing out nine assists, including an are-you-kidding-me behind the back pass for a Caleb Martin three.

Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., starting in Butler’s absence, was very, very good, contributing 21 points, six rebounds and six assists and shooting 8 for 16 from the field. Two thunderous dunks by Jaquez helped sustain the Heat’s second-half momentum.

Bam Adebayo added 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes. He did a good job defending Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan, who scored 22.

And Kevin Love, who gave the Heat a huge second-half lift, shot 10 for 10 on free throws in closing with 16 points and 7 rebounds in just 12 minutes.

Chicago – whose season ended on a Friday night in Miami, in a play-in game, for the second year in a row — shot just 38 percent from the field and 30 percent on three-pointers. One of many difference-makers on Friday: The Heat was 22 for 24 from the free throw line, the Bulls 8 for 10.

Bulls guard Coby White, who scored 42 in a play-in win against Atlanta on Wednesday, was held to 13 points on 5 for 16 shooting.

“Forget about how we got here,” Spoelstra said. “You can be frustrated. It can feel like it sucks, that we were in the play in and lost the first game. But you get past all that. I would rather not be in the play-in game, but they’re fun.”

The Heat opened with its 36th starting lineup of the season – Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Martin, Herro and Adebayo.

With Jaquez at the forefront, Miami unleashed a 19-0 run early on to burst ahead 25-11. The Bulls shot 2 for 16 to close the first quarter, while Herro finished the first with six points, six rebounds and five assists.

By the time Duncan Robinson drained two threes, the Heat’s lead had bulged to 42-22.

But then, trouble, at least momentarily.

A 15-5 run by the Bulls pulled Chicago to within 47-37 at the half. The Heat shot 5 for 20 and committed seven turnovers in the second quarter but stayed ahead by double figures because Chicago shot just 12 for 44 in the first half (27.3 percent).

Here’s one way of framing Chicago’s shooting struggles Friday: The Bulls opened the game making four of their first five shots, then missed 31 of their next 39.

But after absorbing a punch in the second quarter, Miami steadiest itself and began the second half simmering, with an Adebayo jumper, a Herro three and nifty turnaround jumper and a Martin three. A driving dunk by Jaquez made it a 7-0 run and pushed the Heat’s lead to 59-44.

After the Bulls sliced the Heat lead to nine, Herro hit two free throws and then made the play of the game - an incredible behind-the-back pass to Martin for a three. Herro whipped the ball from the paint to the corner, a feat seldom witnessed during game action.

That sparked a 12-0 run that put the Heat up 82-60 after three.

Robinson gave the Heat a lift after not playing in Wednesday’s play-in loss in Philadelphia.

Robinson’s back has been an issue for three weeks but Erik Spoelstra had seen enough progress to play him 12 minutes on Friday, and he scored eight points on 3 for 6 shooting.

Spoelstra went nine deep while the game was competitive, with Haywood Highsmith, Love, Delon Wright and Robinson playing off the bench.

Miami improved to 14-9 when playing without Butler this season.

And so now Miami will play the Celtics for the third year in a row after vanquishing them in a seven-game Eastern Conference finals last year.

Miami was the eighth seed last year and will be the eighth seed again this year.

“We’re not a regular eight seed and people know that for some reason,” Adebayo said.

He said the Celtics series is “going to be dogfight, a battle, in the mud. It’s not going to be pretty basketball. That’s usually how it is when we see that team.”

The Celtics swept the season series, winning by eight in Boston in October, then drubbing the Heat by 33 points at Kaseya Center in January and beating the Heat by four on Super Bowl Sunday in Miami.

The winner of the Heat-Celtics series will face the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series.