Lynne Sladky / AP

Bulls guard Derrick Rose drives to the basket as Heat forward Chris Bosh defends during Chicago's 86-87 victory Sunday. Rose led all scorers with 27 points.

By TIM REYNOLDS

updated 5:31 p.m. ET March 6, 2011

MIAMI - The perspectives could not have been more different. Luol Deng either got pushed in the back by Mike Miller on what became one of the final two game-deciding moments, or tripped over his own feet stumbling for a rebound.

That point could be argued.

What's inarguable, however, is this: Another final-second opportunity slipped away from the Miami Heat, and the Chicago Bulls — spurned last summer in their bids to land Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh — swept all three regular-season meetings from the team that signed them.

The Big 3? They're No. 3 in the East at this point, after Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Deng capped an 18-point effort with two free throws on a hotly debated play with 15.9 seconds remaining, and the Bulls beat Miami 87-86 on Sunday to hand the Heat their fourth straight loss.

In the Heat locker room, some players shed frustrated tears.

"One of these days, we will break through," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Carlos Boozer scored 12 and Joakim Noah added 11 for the Bulls, who moved a game ahead of Miami into outright possession of second place in the Eastern Conference. Chicago was down by 12 late in the first half, then became the fourth team since Feb. 24 to erase a double-digit deficit against the Heat.

"We have guys who can close," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Special feature Who will be MVP? Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com

Few would say that Miami doesn't — but closing games has been, and continues to be, the biggest Heat challenge.

James had a chance to win it on a drive with 6 seconds left, missing a contested shot, and Wade's desperation toss from the right baseline bounced away as time expired.

Those were the 12th and 13th consecutive shots that the Heat have missed with a chance to tie or lead a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. James has missed four in this four-game losing streak alone.

"I told my team, I'm not going to continue to fail late in games," James said. "I put a lot of blame on myself tonight. I told the guys that I just keep failing them late in games and I won't continue to do that."

Slideshow   Get your cheer on Check out some of the dancers from the NBA. more photos

James scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 23 and Wade had 20 for the Heat, who put together a rally to take the lead in the final minute.

The Heat were down 82-76 with 3:30 left when Rose made a jumper over Miller, before Mario Chalmers led the comeback effort. He hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 1:05 left, then blew past a closeout for an easy layup from the left side that put the Heat ahead 86-84 with 25 seconds remaining.

With Chicago down by two, Deng made one free throw, missing the second. Noah got a hand on the ball, keeping James and Erick Dampier from grabbing it cleanly, and in the chase for the carom referee Tony Brothers called a foul on Miller for pushing Deng in the back.

"Looked like he tripped on his own," Bosh said.

Deng went back to the line and made both this time, putting Chicago in front.

More news

Jim Rogash / Getty Images

Survival of the fittest

LIVE: The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are playing in Game 7 for a berth into the Eastern Conference finals where the winner will face the Miami Heat.

NBC Sports

SportsTalk: Do Heat actually want Celtics?

  SportsTalk: Who do the Heat really want to play in the Eastern Conference finals?

Headlines

• Label

CSN: Surgery ends season for Celtics' Bradley

SportsTalk: Do Heat actually want Celtics?

PBT: Spoelstra fined $25K for criticizing officials

PBT: Knicks give Woodson multiyear extension

PBT: Knicks' J.R. Smith arrested in South Beach

PBT Extra: Can young Thunder stun Spurs?

PBT: How do Thunder deal with Spurs' Parker?

PBT: As The Magic Turn — no decision on Howard