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Bulls-Heat Preview

Feb 29, 2016 - 8:25 PM Joe Johnson made a seamless transition in going from one of the league's worst teams to a division leader.

The Chicago Bulls have spent the past 7 1/2 weeks undergoing an opposite transformation, changing from a team that was competing for Eastern Conference supremacy to one that could miss the playoffs.

Johnson will make his home debut for the Southeast Division-leading Miami Heat on Tuesday night against a banged-up Bulls team that is in danger of falling out of playoff position for the first time in two years.

Two days after being waived by Brooklyn following a contract buyout, Johnson was signed Saturday by the Heat (33-26). One night later he was in the starting lineup against New York and helped Miami to a 98-81 win.

Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer on his first shot as part of the Heat's 13-2 start and finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

''You get a guy a caliber of, a player like him, you normally get that in the offseason,'' said Dwyane Wade, who had 26 points. ''So to be able to get it right now, as you're going into a playoff run, is very important for this team, especially with everything that we've been dealing with.''

Johnson's 86 3-pointers are five more than the total of top Miami 3-point shooter Chris Bosh, who is sidelined with a blood clot that formed in his leg.

With Bosh's status for the remainder of the season unclear, the Heat are in the precarious position of trying to hold off Atlanta, which is a half-game back. Johnson hasn't been part of a division-winning team since he was with Phoenix in 2005.

''This is kind of new, but I'm up for it, man,'' Johnson said. ''It's a challenge. I'm looking forward to it, and every game from here on out is going to be a playoff-type game for us. We've got to have that mentality.''

The Bulls (30-28) are also in unfamiliar territory.

Since closing within 2 1/2 games of conference-leading Cleveland on Jan. 7, Chicago has gone 8-16 to fall into an eighth-place tie with Charlotte and Detroit. The Bulls haven't been outside the top eight in the East since Jan. 1, 2014.

The Heat have won nine of 10 against East teams, a stretch that began with an 89-84 victory at Chicago on Jan. 25 in this season's only previous matchup. Wade had 28 points while the Bulls were held to 39.8 percent shooting.

Pau Gasol had 19 points and 17 rebounds, but Derrick Rose scored four points in 13 first-half minutes before leaving with lower back and right hamstring injuries.

Rose has missed the last three games due to his hamstring and is day to day. He joins Jimmy Butler (strained left knee), Nikola Mirotic (appendicitis) and Joakim Noah (shoulder) on Chicago's injury list.

"We know what we've got," forward Taj Gibson told the Bulls' official website after Saturday's 103-95 home loss to Portland. "We just know that we have to play harder and can't mess up. We have a small window for mistakes now and that's the biggest thing."

Gasol stepped up again with his first triple-double of the season, recording 22 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists.

Doug McDermott scored 18 and is seeing an increased role in the offense, averaging 19.6 points while hitting 10 of 20 3-point attempts in the last five games.

The Bulls have dropped seven of eight road games, scoring 95 or fewer in each of the last three.

The Heat are 24-3 when holding opponents under 96.