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Bulls rally past Heat

Apr 10, 2015 - 12:41 PM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Pau Gasol finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat 89-78 after rallying from a 19-point halftime deficit.

The Bulls outscored the Heat 33-8 in the third quarter and cruised in the fourth to snap a two-game slide. Taj Gibson also posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Derrick Rose added 12 points in his second game back from knee surgery.

Dwyane Wade was limited to nine points on 4-of-20 shooting, while Hassan Whiteside totaled 19 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Heat, who fell 1 1/2 games behind the Nets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We've got three games left. As long as we're still in it we'll be good," said Wade. "You just keep coming back until they tell you your season is over. This is not going to detour us from playing our game."

The Heat's final three games are against the Raptors, Magic and 76ers.

A tight first quarter gave way to a one-sided second. Miami outscored the Bulls 29-6 over the final nine-plus minutes of the half, with Michael Beasley scoring all 13 of his points during the surge and Wade providing a deep 3- pointer to send the hosts into the break with a healthy 51-32 cushion.

Bulls players not named Gibson missed a combined 17 shots in the second quarter, but there was a stunning turnaround in store after the break.

"It was embarrassing," Bulls forward Joakim Noah said. "We were getting out- competed."

Chicago scored the first 11 points as the Heat missed their first 12 shots en route to a 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) effort in the quarter.

Mike Dunleavy and Aaron Brooks each scored six points on a 14-0 run that gave the Bulls the lead for good. A Noah to Gibson alley-oop early in the fourth stretched Chicago's lead to 71-59, and the margin never dipped below seven the rest of the way.

After missing all nine of their 3-point tries in the first half, the Bulls connected on 6-for-14 from deep in the second.

Game Notes

The Bulls were without guard Jimmy Butler because of a left calf injury ... Gasol posted his league-leading 51st double-double of the season ... Chicago had dropped nine of its previous 11 road games ... The Heat were outscored at the foul line 13-5.