* The Bulls have won the last four meetings between the teams, including all three this season, and seven of the last eight overall. Overall, Chicago is 9-5 (.643) against the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference in 2012-13 (Miami, New York, Indiana and Brooklyn), the best mark in the league this season.

* With a win tonight, the Knicks would extend their winning streak to 14 games, the third longest in franchise history. This would be the first time in NBA history that four different teams recorded win streaks of at least 14 games in the same season (Miami – 27, LA Clippers – 17, Denver – 15).

* The Bulls, coming off Tuesday’s 101-98 defeat to the Raptors, are 24-10 (.706) in games following a loss this season, the fourth-best mark in the NBA.

* Carmelo Anthony has scored at least 35 points in each of his last five games, averaging 40.6 points on 61.1 percent shooting from the field in those contests. Anthony is the first player with five consecutive 35-plus point games since Kobe Bryant did so from March 16-25, 2007.

* Carlos Boozer has recorded a double-double in nine of his last 11 games, giving him 40 for the season. He is the first Bulls player with 40 double-doubles in a season since Elton Brand (42 double-doubles) in 1999-2000.

* The Knicks connected on a season-high 20 three-pointers in their 120-99 victory over the Wizards on Tuesday. New York has 837 three-pointers made for the season, tied with the 2005-06 Suns for the second most all-time. They are four threes away from matching the 2009-10 Magic (841) for the most in a single season in NBA history.

* While the Bulls have won five consecutive games against the Raptors, the last two meetings have gone into overtime.

* While the Raptors have scored fewer than 100 points in nine consecutive games, the Bulls have gone six straight games with fewer than 100 points. The only team with a longer active such streak than the two teams is Cleveland (10).

* The Bulls have dished out an NBA-high 315 more assists (1742-1427) than their opponents this season.

* Nate Robinson needs just three more three-pointers to set a new career high (125 in 2008-09 with Knicks).

* Carlos Boozer has averaged 30.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 62.8 percent shooting from the field over his last two games against Toronto.

* Amir Johnson has blocked multiple shots in each of his last four games – tied for the longest active streak in the NBA.

Chicago has won three straight, and seven of eight, from Orlando. Neither team has reached 100 points in any of the last five meetings.

* Orlando has lost its last nine road games, which is the second-longest active road losing streak in the NBA (Bobcats – 11).

* Each of the Bulls’ last five games (3-2) has been decided by four points or less, including Thursday’s 92-90 win over the Nets. Chicago has played a league-high 23 games decided by four points or less this season, going 13-10 (.565) in those contests. *

* Nikola Vucevic has pulled down at least 11 rebounds in eight straight, and in 10 of his last 11, games.

* Carlos Boozer had 29 points and 18 rebounds in Chicago’s win over Brooklyn on Thursday. It was his seventh double-double in his last eight games.

* The Bulls are 5-2 since Nazr Mohammed replaced the injured Joakim Noah as the team’s starting center. The 35-year old Mohammed is averaging 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 block per game in these contests.

* Washington has won two of the last three games in this series after Chicago had taken the previous seven.

* Chicago struggled for most of the game before beating Detroit 95-94 on Sunday, running their win streak against the Pistons to 18 in a row. The Bulls have played a league-high 21 games decided by four points or less, with four of those games coming in their last five contests.

* The Wizards have won seven straight home games, each of the last six by at least nine points. It is their longest home win streak in a single season since a 10-game streak, December 13, 2006-January 20, 2007.

* Jimmy Butler is averaging 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals since replacing the injured Marco Bellinelli as Chicago’s starting shooting guard four games ago.

* Luol Deng attempted a career-high 17 free throws (making 11) in Sunday’s win over the Pistons. His previous high had been 15, against the Jazz on February 5, 2007. Chicago is 13-4 all-time when Deng has more than 10 FTA in a game.

* Bradley Beal had 24 points in Washington’s win over the Raptors on Sunday. It was his first game back after missing the previous five contests with an ankle injury. Beal has 13 20+ point games in 2012-13, third most among rookies (Damian Lillard – 38, Dion Waiters – 14).

* The Bulls have won their last four games against the Mavericks, including a 101-78 victory in Chicago on November 28. That was the largest margin of victory by the Bulls in this series since a 26-point win (111-85) on November 19, 1994

* Chicago is coming off a 101-97 win over Miami on Wednesday that snapped the Heat’s 27-game win streak. The Bulls had 12 more rebounds than Miami (43 to 31); the 13^th time this season they have had a rebound margin of at least +10 in a game. The victory also clinched a playoff spot for the Bulls, who will be appearing in the postseason for a fifth straight year.

* The Mavericks lost by 25 points at home to the Pacers on Thursday; it was their third home loss by 25 or more points this season. They had zero home regular-season losses by 25+ points in the previous two seasons combined.

* Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 17 rebounds in Wednesday’s win over the Heat. The Bulls are 5-1 all-time when Boozer has 20+ points and 15+ boards in a game.

* Jimmy Butler has 37 points (on 11-for-21 shooting), 13 rebounds and seven assists in his two last games as the Bulls’ starting shooting guard. He started six games at small forward earlier this season, averaging 14.5 ppg (on 42.9 FG%), 8.8 rpg and 2.5 apg in those contests.

* Dirk Nowitzki has had 20+ points in two straight, three of his last four, and five of his last seven, games. He had a season-high 33 points against the Clippers on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, hours before the Bulls applied the brakes to the Heat’s run at history, Tom Thibodeau got asked if he had mentioned their 27-game win streak.

“What streak?” Thibodeau said.

Indeed, on a night where the only Derrick Rose appearance came via a bobblehead doll and Joakim Noah, Richard Hamilton and Marco Belinelli also sat with injuries, the Bulls made history disappear.

The second-longest winning streak in North American major professional sports league history is over thanks to a 101-97 victory that, out of nowhere, rekindled talk of a lengthy Bulls’ postseason run.

Heat, meet grit.

“We didn’t play perfect, but we fought hard the whole game,” Kirk Hinrich said.

Luol Deng scored 28 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter and four 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler provided big play after big play to spark the Bulls, finishing with 17 points and a career-high five assists. And Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds on a night the Bulls never backed down.

When LeBron James tried to smash through a Boozer screen with 3 minutes, 52 seconds left, Boozer held his ground and James, who had been pounded all night on drives, drew a flagrant-one foul.

Minutes later, Kirk Hinrich ripped a rebound out of Chris Bosh’s hands and fed Taj Gibson for a jumper and nine-point lead at the other end.

James led the Heat with 32 points, but Thibodeau’s defensive schemes turned him into a scorer more than his preferred role of facilitator

“It would’ve been perfect if I was playing, but guess not,” Rose said of his bobblehead night.

Turns out, the Bulls didn’t need him, even though Dwyane Wade returned from missing two games with a sore knee.

The Bulls came out intense and physical with everything clicking. They sank their first four shots and jumped to a 13-2 lead. Udonis Haslem sat with three fouls in the first 5:15. Wade drew a technical. Nate Robinson banked in a circus shot near the first-quarter buzzer.

The Bulls led 55-46 at halftime but momentum appeared to turn for good quickly early in the third. James slammed home an alley-oop from Wade and then viciously converted a Hinrich turnover with a tomahawk dunk.

As the Bulls continued to struggle offensively, Shane Battier’s 3-pointer with 4:30 left capped a three-point possession and gave the Heat their first lead at 59-58.

But Butler woke the crowd with an acrobatic alley-oop from Deng over Bosh that will replayed for days. Earlier, Butler had epitomized the Bulls’ hustling mindset by chasing down Wade on a breakaway and delivering a hard foul.

And just like that, the Heat’s run ended to chants of “End the streak!” and “Beat the Heat!” from the faithful.

“I mean, everyone is aware,” Thibodeau said of the streak. “But we’re more concerned about them being the defending champion. Everyone is chasing them. You’re chasing them regardless of whether there is a streak or no streak

“They won it last year so until someone can beat them, that’s the team everyone is chasing.”

For one night, the Bulls caught them.

Chicago Tribune Reporting

* The Heat and Bulls have split their two meetings this season, with each winning on the other’s home floor. Miami held Chicago to 67 points in its 19-point road victory on February 21, which were the fewest points scored by the Bulls in a regular-season home game in nearly 10 years.

* During its current 27-game win streak, the Heat are outscoring their opponents by nearly 12 points per game (105.3 to 93.4). Eleven of the 27 wins have come against teams with .500 or better records at the time of the game.

* The Bulls are ranked in the Top 6 in the NBA in scoring defense, field-goal defense and three-point defense. Conversely, the Heat’s offense is ranked in the Top 6 in scoring, field-goal percentage and three-point percentage.

* LeBron James has eight straight games with 20+ points, 7+ rebounds and 7+ assists. That is the longest such streak in a single season since Michael Jordan had 14 straight 20+/7+/7+ games, March 21-April 14, 1989.

* The Heat are 15-0 when Mario Chalmers has 13 or more points in a game. They are also 15-0 when he has at least three three-pointers in a contest. He had 17 points and four three-pointers in Miami’s win over Orlando on Monday.

* Nate Robinson has had 20+ points and 7+ assists in three of his last five games. He is averaging 14.6 points and 6.4 assists per game as a starter this season (team record: 7-15) as a starter, as opposed to 11.3 ppg and 3.6 apg coming off the bench (team record: 31-16).

* The Trail Blazers have won the last three, and eight of the last 10, games in this series, including a 102-94 home victory on November 18.

* Portland is just 9-25 on the road this season, including having lost 10 of its last 11 games away from home. The nine road wins are actually one more than the Trail Blazers had last season (8-25), but they are also tied for the third fewest in franchise history.

* Taj Gibson hopes to return to action tonight. The Chicago forward has missed the last 10 games with an injury. The Bulls are 4-6 in those contests.

* LaMarcus Aldridge has had five straight games with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. That is tied for the longest single-season streak of his career (also January 2-9, 2011). Since the start of the 1985-86, the only other Portland player with 20+ points and 10+ boards in five straight games in the same season is Arvydas Sabonis (5 straight games, March 12-19, 1998).

* Damian Lillard was held to eight points in Tuesday’s loss to the Bucks, snapping his 15-game streak with double-digit points.

* Nate Robinson had 34 points, seven assists and seven turnovers in Monday’s overtime loss to the Nuggets. The last Bulls’ player with at least 34 points, seven assists and seven turnovers in a game was Derrick Rose (39/7/7) against the Pistons on October 30, 2010.