Bulls beat Heat 98-95

So on a night Whiteside closed with 20 points and 20 rebounds, all the Miami Heat had to show for it Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena was a 98-95 loss to Wade and the Chicago Bulls that dropped them to 2-5.

Jimmy Butler of the Bulls led the game in scoring with 20 points on 5 for 11 shooting.

Dwyane Wade goes for the reverse against Willie Reed and scored 13 points to help the Chicago Bulls beat his old team, the Heat, during the first quarter of their game at American Airlines Arena in Miami. Wade ran onto the court for warmups, Heat fans cheered.

And there also was a game to be played.

Dwyane Wade was ice cold on the floor amid the warm reception in his highly anticipated return to Miami. But the Heat struggled to score down the stretch, as Chicago made more plays late in the game to get the victory.

“Weird game, man. It’s one of the weirdest games I’ve ever played in”, Wade said.

Wade, who spent 13 seasons with the Heat before joining his hometown Bulls on a two-year deal worth an estimated $47 million. “But I’ve got bigger goals in mind”.

“I think it’s still too early to make any kind of definitive evaluation”, coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Heat’s early-season lineup and rotation.

In the National Basketball Association finals against Dallas, Miami fell behind 2-0 in the series and Riley said at the time that when Wade handles the ball 50 times or more in a game, the Heat usually lose. And, along the way, he’d also taken less money on multiple occasions – including in 2014, when James headed back to Cleveland while Bosh got a max contract from the Heat and Wade did not. Miami hasn’t scored more than 46 paint points in a game since exploding for 74 paint points in the season opener against the Magic.

Wade hugged plenty of his former teammates, made special trips over to greet the wife of Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and general manager Andy Elisburg, then saluted the fans who stayed to watch him leave the floor – long after every other player departed.

They held the Heat to 41 percent shooting, although they gave up 13 3-pointers at a 45-percent clip. Rajon Rondo awoke from a slumber to hit a few crucial buckets, including a reverse layup when Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg wanted a timeout after the Heat tied the game at 84 with less than six minutes remaining.

“Little different, ” Wade said. Wade knew it was time to go, and after considering one very serious offer from the Denver Nuggets, he chose the Bulls. Over that span, he averaged 23.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.6 three-pointers per game. He popped off for 33 points and nine rebounds as the Bucks fell to 4-4.

He finished 7 of 13 from 3-point range, including one that he turned into a four-point play. “Just to see the people that I call family”.

Robin Lopez had 16 points for Chicago, which prevailed in a game that had 14 ties and 19 lead changes.