Herro scores 38 as Heat dominate Bulls 109-90 to advance in Play-In Tournament

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Herro and the Heat had it going right from the start. Another performance like that could catapult Miami into the playoffs.

Herro scored 38 points, and the Heat dominated the Chicago Bulls 109-90 on Wednesday night to advance in the Play-In Tournament.

Herro scored 23 points as Miami grabbed a 71-47 halftime lead, and the Heat knocked the Bulls out of the play-in for the third year in a row. They play at Atlanta on Friday for a chance to meet top-seeded Cleveland in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks lost to Orlando on Tuesday.

“We're only halfway there,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We didn't have the luxury of having the one game and then you're automatically in. Guys feel great about this win and really put a lot into this. This is not something that could just happen overnight. I feel like there's been some good things happening the last several weeks.”

Getting to this point hasn't been easy for the Heat. There was the standoff with Jimmy Butler that ended with a trade deadline deal to Golden State in February, and a 10-game losing streak in March. Miami then won eight of 12 to close the regular season and finish 10th in the East at 37-45.

Against Chicago, Herro made his first eight shots and was 13 of 19 in the game.

Andrew Wiggins had 20 points and nine rebounds. Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Davion Mitchell chipped in with 15 points and nine assists. The Heat had 10 steals and seven blocks, and it all added up to payback for a three-game sweep in the regular season.

Josh Giddey had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. Coby White scored 17, though he shot 5 of 20. Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

“We didn't really have game-plan discipline,” White said. “We beat them in the regular season. We thought if we just do what we normally do, then we'll be good. But obviously, they've got guys that have been to the finals. They've got guys that know what it takes. They got a head coach who's one of the best head coaches in the league. They came in and they were the better team tonight.”

The Bulls got within 13 early in the fourth quarter, only to get shut down the rest of the way and miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.

“A lot of us made big-time buckets at the right time,” Adebayo said.

Herro set the tone, making all eight shots as the Heat broke the game open in the first half. He was hardly a one-man show, with Wiggins scoring 12 in the half and Adebayo adding 11 points and seven rebounds.

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Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, right, points as he talks to guard Coby White during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Miami Heat in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gives direction during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bulls forward Zach Collins, left, blocks a shot by Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat forward Kyle Anderson, right, blocks a shot by Chicago Bulls forward Dalen Terry during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, right, shoots against Chicago Bulls forward Zach Collins during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, left, drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, top, dunks against the Chicago Bulls during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) drives to the basket against Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis, left, guard Kevin Huerter and center Nikola Vucevic, right, during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

State Sen. Dan McKeon tearfully announced his resignation from the Nebraska Legislature on Tuesday ahead of scheduled debate to expel him from the body after accusations that he made a sexually charged comment to a legislative staffer and touched her inappropriately during a session-end party last year.

McKeon, a Republican from rural south-central Nebraska who had served only a year before his resignation, announced his resignation and apologized on the legislative floor just minutes before debate that would certainly have included harsh condemnation of McKeon.

“My words and actions were careless, regardless of the intent,” McKeon said. “I accept my responsibility for the impact of my words and my actions.”

“This past year has humbled me. It requires reflection, listening and learning. Accountability is not only acknowledging my mistake but committing to grow from it. I take that responsibility seriously,” McKeon said, his voice cracking.

His demeanor was a departure from what many of his fellow lawmakers found to be a defiant and flippant attitude toward the accusations leading up to his resignation. McKeon's exit came a day after the 10-member Executive Board, the body's governing board, voted unanimously to forward a motion to expel McKeon to the full Legislature for a vote.

The unprecedented move followed a complaint from the staffer who works for another lawmaker that McKeon approached her and another aide during a May 29 party and engaged in small talk about everyone's vacation plans. The woman said McKeon told her she should “get laid” on her vacation and patted her on her buttocks. McKeon has countered that he “made a bad pun," telling the woman she and her spouse should “go to Hawaii and enjoy a Hawaiian lei,” according to McKeon's attorney.

McKeon also countered that he patted the staffer on the back and may have accidentally brushed her rear end, but insists that if he did, it was unintentional.

McKeon's departure comes as more attention has focused on sexual harassment within state legislatures nationwide — including in Nebraska. The accusations against McKeon came about 15 months after the body was thrown in chaos when another Republican state lawmaker, former Sen. Steve Halloran, read a graphic account of rape from a bestselling memoir on the floor of the Legislature in which he repeatedly invoked the name of a fellow lawmaker, making it appear as if that lawmaker was the subject of the assault.

An outside investigation found that Halloran had violated the body’s workforce sexual harassment policy, and the Legislature's governing Executive Board issued him a letter of reprimand. But that action was met with strong criticism from several lawmakers who said Halloran should have faced a censure vote by the full body. Halloran left office in January 2025 due to term limits.

This time around, the Executive Board took a harder stance after a several lawmakers and another outside investigation found that McKeon had a history of making inappropriate comments and jokes during his time in the Legislature. The investigator also found that McKeon ignored a directive by the Executive Board's chairman not to attend events where staffers would be, showing up that same day at another party attended by the woman who filed the complaint against him.

The investigator also found that a text McKeon sent to another staffer who shares an office with the woman, in which he said she “seems to be difficult to work with,” could constitute retaliation against her.

The report determined that McKeon’s conduct did not rise to a level of sexual harassment or retaliation actionable under state or federal discrimination law, but that it did violate the Nebraska Legislature’s workplace harassment policy.

McKeon becomes at least the 57th state lawmaker in the nation to leave office via expulsion or resignation since 2017 following sexual misconduct allegations.

He also faces a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace after a Nebraska State Patrol investigation into his interaction with the staffer last May. McKeon has pleaded not guilty to that charge and is set to appear in court on Jan. 26.

State sen. Daniel McKeon sits during the first day of Nebraska's 2026 legislative session, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

State Sen. Daniel McKeon takes notes during the first day of Nebraska's 2026 legislative session, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)