Heat rallies to oust Bulls, reach Finals

CHICAGO -- LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami to win a championship. Now they have their shot.

James had 28 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Wade added 21 points as the Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls, 83-80, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night.

Ronnie Brewer's free throw gave the Bulls a 77-65 lead with 3:14 remaining, and Chicago still led 79-72 after Derrick Rose's basket with 1:46 to play. But after Brewer's free throw, James and Wade scored eight points each during a game-ending 18-3 run that gave Miami the series.

The Heat is headed back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006, and in a fitting twist, it will face the Mavericks again.

Back then, with Wade leading the way, Miami lost the first two games before taking four straight from Dallas to capture the title. This time it'll be James and Dirk Nowitzki going for their first rings. The Heat will host Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Rose led Chicago with 25 points but shot 9-for-29. He fouled Wade on a key four-point play and missed a tying foul shot with 26.7 seconds left. "At the end, it's all me," Rose said. "Turnovers, missed shots, fouls. The series is over."

Wade's late surge helped negate his nine turnovers. Bosh added 20 points and 10 rebounds.

"We had to go through a lot of adversity," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That struggle that we went through in March, where we lost five straight -- all of them close games, where we didn't execute down the stretch and weren't able to close games out -- that helped us.''

The Bulls seemed to be in good shape when they took that 77-65 lead, but Wade started the deciding run with a runner and layup. A three-pointer by James pulled Miami within 77-72 with 2:07 left. Rose then scored on a spin move in the lane, but he fouled Wade as he nailed a three-pointer, resulting in a four-point play. Then, after a miss by Rose, James tied it at 79 with another trey with 1:01 remaining.

James buried another jumper to put Miami ahead for good with 29.5 seconds left. Down three, the Bulls had one more chance to tie it, but Kyle Korver got doubled up top and passed to Rose on the wing. His three-pointer was blocked by James.