Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat 10/19/22 - NBA Picks & Predictions

On Wednesday, the Chicago Bulls visit the Miami Heat at FTX Arena in the opening game of the regular season for both teams. Last season, Chicago finished sixth in the Eastern Conference at 46-36. The Bulls were 27-14 at home and 19-22 on the road. Jake LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are the top scorers returning for Chicago this season, while the best rebounder for the Bulls is Nikola Vecevic. Lonzo Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery at the start of training camp and his return is unknown.

Alex Caruso, Goran Dragic and Ayo Dosunmu will share duties as the playmaker for Chicago until Ball is able to return. Younger talent such as Patrick Williams and Dosunmu are expected to play bigger roles this season, but the pressure will be on both DeRozan and LaVine to provide much of the leadership and scoring for the Bulls. Ball is the only player listed for Chicago on its injury report

Miami is coming off a season in which the Heat finished first in the Eastern Conference at 53-29. Miami was 29-12 at home and 24-17 on the road last season. The Heat were eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami lost PJ Tucker during the offseason to free agency but has plenty of talent returning. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro will lead a Miami teams that is one of the best defensively in the NBA

Herro was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year last season and averaged 20.7 points per game for the Heat. Herro will need to score well again this season after having a disappointing postseason, averaging only 12.6 points per game. Veteran Kyle Lowry was acquired by Miami before the start of last season and suffered through nagging injuries and a hamstring problem that has bothered Lowry this preseason.