Sports
Bulls, Heat head to Florida to continue rare 3-game set
Jan 29, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) shoots against Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Facing off for part two of a rare three-game series, the Miami Heat will look to prolong the visiting Chicago Bulls’ recent woes Saturday night.
The teams had their Jan. 8 game in Chicago postponed to Jan. 29 due to condensation on the court, leading to three games in four days between the two sides. The set, which will wrap up in Miami on Sunday, will mark the first time that two teams have played three straight regular-season games against each other since the Baltimore Bullets and Houston Rockets met for three games in a row from Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1972.
Following a five-game Western Conference road trip, the Heat started a string of four games in five days on Wednesday with a 133-124 loss to the Orlando Magic. Miami followed that with a 116-113 victory over Chicago on Thursday.
Erik Spoelstra’s team is battling through the toughest part of its travel schedule, and it’s not just the players who are feeling the fatigue.
“I’ll take a day to think about it,” Spoelstra said of what he enjoys most about the three-game “chess match.” “I don’t even know what city I’m in right now, but I’ll be ready for Saturday night.”
Miami led by 13 points in the fourth quarter Thursday before staving off Chicago. Bam Adebayo finished with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double, posting his sixth consecutive 20-point game.
Ahead of two more outings against the Bulls, Adebayo knows what he can produce in this matchup.
“I’m just being aggressive, shooting the open shot, not really thinking about it. Just continuing to stay in this flow,” said Adebayo, who said the quirky schedule resembles a playoff schedule. “It does, because you’re constantly seeing them. But for us, we know what’s at hand. We’ve got to take care of business.”
Adebayo averages 18 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while Norman Powell leads the Heat with a career-high 23 points per contest.
Chicago dropped its third straight game Thursday as its lead over the Charlotte Hornets for the Eastern Conference’s No. 10 seed was reduced to 2 1/2 games. As the Bulls hover around the .500 mark for the fourth straight year, head coach Billy Donovan has seen the emergence of Ayo Dosunmu in more ways than one. The fifth-year guard is averaging a career-best 14.8 points per game, but it’s been his growth as a leader that’s impressed the team.
“Ayo has been very, very vocal with his voice the last two years, which I think we need,” Donovan said. “He’s also got a spirit about him that he never thinks he’s out of it. I think that kind of permeates through the team. I just love his spirit, his competitiveness and the way he treats big moments.”
Dosunmu led all scorers with 23 points Thursday. Chicago was without Josh Giddey (18.6 points, 8.8 assists, 8.6 rebounds per game) due to hamstring injury maintenance. Giddey missed 11 straight games with the injury in late December and early January.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Suns agree to deal with F Haywood Highsmith
Apr 28, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) reaches for the basketball to prevent it from going out of bounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter during game four for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The Phoenix Suns agreed to a multi-year deal with forward Haywood Highsmith, per ESPN.
Highsmith was an integral rotation player for the Miami Heat for four seasons (2021-25). During that span, he started 80 games. Overall, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds across 20.3 minutes per game, while shooting 37.5% from 3-point range with the Heat.
In August 2025, he tore his meniscus while working out. Soon after, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
He did not play a game for the Nets. They waived him at the trade deadline.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Juke Harris' 25 points spark Wake Forest over Stanford
Feb 14, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Stanford Cardinal and Wake Forest Demon Deacons players scramble for the loose ball during the first half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Juke Harris scored 25 points and hit key shots down the stretch as Wake Forest rallied past Stanford in a 68-63 victory in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday.
Mekhi Mason came off the bench for 10 points for Wake Forest (13-12, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won at home for the first time since Jan. 3.
Harris shot 6 of 15 from the field and 12 of 13 at the free-throw line, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the fourth consecutive game.
Ebuka Okorie scored 26 points for Stanford (16-10, 5-8), which was in position for its second road win in four days until the final minute. The Cardinal won at Boston College on Wednesday night.
Benny Gealer’s 11 points and Aidan Cammann’s 10 points and 11 rebounds helped Stanford, which was outscored 28-9 on free throws.
Wake Forest ended the game on a 17-5 run. Harris, who also led Wake Forest in rebounding with seven, scored the team’s final seven points.
The Demon Deacons overcame 4-of-17 shooting on 3-pointers by making 28 of 32 foul shots.
Wake Forest closed within 60-59 on two Omaha Biliew free throws with 2:30 left. The Demon Deacons were even at 61-all on Harris’ lay-in.
On the next possession, Harris drove into the lane for an off-balance shot, giving the Demon Deacons the lead at the 54-second mark.
Stanford’s Jeremy Dent-Smith missed an open jumper from inside the arc before Harris went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line. Okorie then forced a potential tying 3-pointer, with Harris rebounding and responding with two foul shots.
Stanford scored the final seven points of the first half for a 39-30 lead at the break.
Okorie and Gealer both finished with three 3-pointers. Stanford starters Donavin Young and Ryan Agarwal were both scoreless in 24 combined minutes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Damian Lillard wins 3-point Contest for 3rd time, ties Larry Bird
Feb 14, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) celebrates with the trophy after winning the three point contest during the 2026 NBA All Star Saturday Night at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Damian Lillard has not played a minute on the court for the Portland Trail Blazers this season and yet still found a way to make an impact at All-Star Weekend.
Lillard defeated seven other long-distance shooting rivals in the 3-point Contest and won the event Saturday for a third time, tying the record previously held by Larry Bird and Craig Hodges. The 35-year-old has been out due to an Achilles injury.
Lillard scored 29 points in the final round to hold off Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, who had 27 in the final after posting a high score of 30 while advancing from the first round. Rookie Kon Knnueppel of the Charlotte Hornets also advanced to the final round but was eliminated with a score of 17.
While Lillard made his final 3-point shot to record his 29, Booker reached 27 by making his first two shots on the final rack of balls, then missed all three of his final shots, any one of which would have forced overtime in the competition.
In addition to Booker’s 30 in the first found, Knueppel and Lillard each scored 27 to move on. Failing to advance were the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell (24), the Miami Heat’s Norman Powell (23), the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (18), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey (17) and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis Jr. (15).
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
Report: Suns agree to deal with F Haywood Highsmith
Juke Harris' 25 points spark Wake Forest over Stanford
