CHICAGO _ Consecutive sequences during Saturday night's third quarter summed up how the Miami Heat have gone from last season's playoff hope to this point, 10 games under .500.
First there was Dwyane Wade dunking in front of Hassan Whiteside in what turned into a three-point play. Then it was Wade converting a driving layup for an eight-point Chicago Bulls lead, as part of an 18-2 Bulls surge that featured 11 points from Wade.
The Bulls had Wade; the Heat didn't.
And so, even after significant pushback by the Heat until the final buzzer, it ended 105-100 Bulls at the United Center.
Because on a night Goran Dragic and Whiteside did their part for the Heat, Wade was able to do more.
For Wade, it increasingly is looking like another visit to the playoffs, albeit in the disconcerting color scheme of red and black.
For the Heat, even .500 play from this stage would lead to nothing more than 36-46, with the record now down to 7-17.
Whiteside bounced back from his uneven effort in Friday night's loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to close with 20 points and eight rebounds, with Dragic pacing the Heat with 21 points and 11 assists.
From Wade there were 28 points, with Jimmy Butler leading the Bulls with 31.
"That team over there, they're scrappy," Wade said.
The game ended off a Heat possession that began with 10.6 seconds to play down three. Wade then took a foul the Bulls had to give, with a Dragic turnover following.
Through all of the Heat's struggles earlier in the second half, a Wayne Ellington 21-foot jumper with 7:22 left in the fourth quarter drew the Heat within 91-87. Later, a Derrick Williams runner in the lane got the Heat within 95-91 with 5:24 left.
Tyler Johnson then drained a 3-pointer with 4:20 left to trim the Heat's deficit to 97-96.
But that's when Whiteside was called for his fifth foul on a driving layup that Butler turned into a 3-point play and a 100-96 Bulls lead with 3:58 left.
Later, a Dragic layup pulled the Heat within 101-98, with the Heat back in possession down by that margin off a timeout with 66 seconds to play.
A turnover by Josh McRoberts, who played in the closing lineup, followed with 46.6 seconds left.
Whiteside then scored inside with 13 seconds left to draw the Heat within 101-100. With the Heat forced to foul, Butler then converted a pair of free throws with 10.6 seconds to play for a 103-100 Chicago lead.
After Wade gave the Bulls a 13-point lead midway through the third period, the Heat were able to three times close within six, but along the way Whiteside was forced to the bench with his fourth foul with 2:43 left to play in the quarter.
The Bulls then went into the fourth quarter up 83-75.
The Heat were a bit less shorthanded than at the start of their three-game trip, with Josh Richardson back in the rotation and taking minutes at point guard after missing the previous six games due to a sprained left ankle.
Richardson, who also missed the start of the season due to a knee issue, returned without the knee brace he previously wore this season.
"That's much needed. It's great to have him around," coach Erik Spoelstra said of having Richardson back. "That's the first step, and we're getting more guys healthy."
Also back was forward Udonis Haslem, who missed Friday night's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers to watch his son, Kedonis Haslem, win the state 7A football championship with St. Thomas Aquinas.
Still back in South Florida and rehabilitating injuries were Justise Winslow (wrist), Dion Waiters (groin), James Johnson (shoulder) and Luke Babbitt (hip).
Those four will have to wait to resume workouts with the team, with the Heat off Sunday before opening a season-longest six-game homestand Monday against the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat continued with Ellington, Rodney McGruder and McRoberts in the starting lineup alongside Whiteside and Dragic.
Whiteside remained in the lineup after dealing with knee soreness in Friday's loss.
"He's like a lot of the guys in the locker room," Spoelstra said. "A lot of the guys are banged up, but they're playing for each other. He was on the first bus today to get extra treatment and he did a bunch of treatment this morning.
"So it's not only his knee, but his hip, a couple of other things. And it's our fourth game in five nights."
The game against the Bulls concluded the Heat's lone such set this season.
Whiteside, who was benched during Friday's third quarter, came out with an aggressive bent, with 11 points in a first quarter that ended with the Bulls up 29-27.
"We spoke today after the walkthrough," Spoelstra said of his Saturday conversation with Whiteside. "It's all part of the maturation process of Hassan Whiteside and how important he is to us and him playing at his highest level.
"And there's so many different factors of playing at a high level, and it's not just on the court. It's the approach and the details, everything else in between. And you can see it. You can see it when he's playing at an extremely high intensity level, that we're a different team."
Dragic then took over with 11 points in the second period, to allow the Heat to move into a 55-55 tie at halftime, with Whiteside at 16 points and Dragic at 15 at that stage.
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