‘Inspiring’ Bam, Heat handle Bulls, ready for ‘dogfight’ with Celtics

MIAMI — The atypical eight-seed is back.

The Miami Heat, who last year ran through the Eastern Conference playoffs as the lowest seed, earned the eighth spot again after beating the Chicago Bulls, the same team Miami defeated to earn last season’s final playoff berth.

The win sets up a first-round clash with the 64-win Boston Celtics, the team Miami defeated in seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, and have faced in three of the last four conference finals.

Without Jimmy Butler, who injured his left knee in Miami’s first play-in game and is expected to need several weeks to recover, the idea of a repeat run for the Heat was a stretch, at best.

But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made a defensive decision before Friday’s 112-91 defeat of Chicago that might have injected some hope back into this band of culture carriers.

Spoelstra gave his center, Bam Adebayo, the responsibility of guarding Chicago’s leading scorer DeMar DeRozan.

The team captain responded with what he called “another day in the office,” limiting DeRozan to 22 points and four assists.

More importantly, Spoelstra said Adebayo gave his team hope with Butler out. Hope both in the game against Chicago, and possibly extending to the series against the Celtics.

“What we needed, what we felt like, was inspiration,” Spoelstra told ESPN.com. “And Bam was our most inspiring player, especially with Jimmy being out. The two of them are our most inspiring players. And they’ve always been. When they’re locked in at their highest level competitively, we feel like we can beat anybody. With Jimmy out, I had to.

“We felt like DeRozan is a guy who can totally take over a game in a one-game deal. If our most inspiring player has to make an impact, it would be against their best scorer.”

The major question entering Friday was how the Heat would make up for Butler’s offense and steadying overall presence.

Butler’s replacement in the starting lineup, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., helped alleviate some of that pressure, while Tyler Herro had a near triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

That left Bam able to concentrate on his defensive assignment. With Nikola Jovic, at 6-foot-10, capable of defending some centers, the Heat have the versatility to use Adebayo this way. And facing a Celtics team with a non-traditional center in Kristaps Porzingis in the first round, you can envision Adebayo taking on either Jalen Brown or Jayson Tatum in that best-of-seven series.

“I haven’t even thought about that,” Spoelstra said. “This was for this kind of…