Miami scored the game’s first eight points, the first six of those coming from O’Neal — who was 6-for-7 in the opening half. But the Bulls coolly withstood the opening burst and knotted the game at 14 when Gordon hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter with 5:30 left, the first of four ties in the half.

Chicago never led in the first half and trailed 48-44 at intermission, but probably felt quite good about the second quarter. The Bulls made only 33 percent of their shots in that period, compared to 64 percent shooting by the Heat. And in the third, Chicago finally broke through.

The Bulls got their first lead when Deng hit a jumper with 2:45 left. It was Deng’s third basket in an 11-2 Chicago run to end the third quarter, and when Chris Duhon hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left, the Bulls had a 68-64 lead entering the fourth.

They didn’t trail again. And the so-called Baby Bulls — a young team that had endured two straight first-round ousters, including last year against Miami in six games — officially grew up.

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“They showed signs of maturity,” said Wallace, who now gets to face his old team, the Pistons, with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals at stake. “I like to see that.”

Notes: Gary Payton, who didn’t play in Games 2 and 3 and logged 18 minutes Sunday, left without talking to reporters — meaning it’s unknown if he’s leaning toward retiring or returning for an 18th season. He turns 39 in July. ... Heat backup center Alonzo Mourning said he will decide soon whether to return next season, and Wade said he hasn’t decided if he’ll need surgery to repair the left shoulder he dislocated in February or on playing for USA Basketball in Olympic qualifying this summer. ... The Bulls beat Detroit in three of four meetings this season. ... Posey replaced Jason Kapono as the starter at small forward for Miami; before Game 3, Kapono took the starter spot from Eddie Jones, who did not play in Game 4.

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