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.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said some players were moved to tears in the Heat

locker room. This much is clear: He and the Heat are hurting.

"This is painful for every single one of us to go through this, there are couple of guys crying in the locker room right now, it is not a matter of want," Spoelstra said.

As his comment lit up with reactions as it hit ESPN's SportsCenter and Twitter, Heat players recognized they're wearing a major target on their backs. And again discussed the strain of having to adjust to playing with a bull's-eye on their jerseys all season.

"Inside our locker room, we stick together, we're like brothers," Wade said. "We win together, we lose together. Outside, the Miami Heat are exactly what everyone wanted, losing games. The world is better now since the Heat is losing."

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.

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."