CHICAGO _ Even at the depths of 19 games under .500, the Miami Heat never looked as out of sorts as the bickering Chicago Bulls do these days.
It is among the reasons the Heat's winning streak now stands at six, after Friday's 100-88 victory over the Bulls at the United Center.
Fueled by 26 points from guard Goran Dragic and 19 from backcourt partner Dion Waiters, and with Willie Reed stepping in for sidelined center Hassan Whiteside with 20, the Heat added a whole other level to the Bulls' woes.
On a night Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler were held out of Chicago's starting lineup for publicly criticizing their teammates, the Heat continued to play depleted-but-desperate.
While the benchings were brief for Wade and Butler, the impact should not be understated. Butler closed 1-of-13 for three points, with Wade 6-of-17 for 15.
Both coaching staffs worked in bowties in tribute to bowtie-wearing Michael Goldberg, the leader of the coaches' union who died last week. The teams were sent a set of six bowties from the coaches' association.
In addition to being without Whiteside, the Heat also were without Tyler Johnson (shoulder), Josh Richardson (foot), Justise Winslow (shoulder), Josh McRoberts (foot) and Chris Bosh (blood clots).
The opening lineups drew a second glance for more than Reed starting at center for the Heat in place of Whiteside, who sat out with a sprained right ankle.
While the Heat stayed with the balance of their recent lineup, with Dragic and Waiters in the backcourt and Rodney McGruder and Luke Babbitt up front, the Bulls effectively had a pair of starters in timeout.
After criticizing the effort of teammates after Wednesday's home loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Wade and Butler were held out of the starting lineup by Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg.
That had Doug McDermott starting in place of Wade and Paul Zipser in place of Butler. Butler entered for the first time with 6:53 left in the opening period, with Wade entering with 6:25 left in the quarter.
Then there was Bulls guard Rajon Rondo, who offered harsh Instagram criticism of his own. He entered with 5:05 to play in the opening period.
With Whiteside out, Udonis Haslem got his first action in six games, entering with three minutes left in the opening period.
After what had been a 15-point Heat lead was cut to six early in the fourth quarter, the Heat rallied back behind a 3-pointer from rookie forward Okaro White to open an 85-74 lead, pushing the advantage to 20 from there.
With Dragic up to 21 points by that stage and Waiters 18, the Heat went into the fourth quarter up 77-67, after moving to a 15-pont lead in the third.
Zipser proved to be a first-half revelation for the Bulls, with 12 points at the intermission, when the teams stood tied at 53-53. The Heat countered with 15 first-half points from Dragic and 13 from Waiters.
After moving ahead by 12 in the absence of the Bulls' two benched starters, the Heat took a 33-24 lead into the second period. Dragic led the Heat with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first quarter.
The Bulls entered with a 2-0 lead in the season series. The Bulls won the first meeting 98-95 Nov. 10 at AmericanAirlines Arena, when Wade scored 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting. The Bulls then won 105-100 Dec. 10 in Chicago, with Wade scoring 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting.
