James scored 28 points, Wade added 21, and they led a furious rally in the final minutes. They scored eight points each during a game-ending 18-3 run as Miami wiped out a 12-point deficit.

Now, the Heat are headed back to the NBA finals for the first time since 2006, and by coincidence they will again be facing the Dallas Mavericks. Back then, with Wade leading the way, Miami beat Dallas to capture the championship. This time, it will be respective stars James and Dirk Nowitzki going for their first rings.

The Heat will host Game 1 on Tuesday.

“There’s no sense of relief right now,” James said.

“We’ve still got work to do. We’ll look at this moment tonight, have a little bit of time tomorrow to go over this moment, what we just accomplished. But we get ready for Dallas very soon. We don’t take for granted this win and take for granted being Eastern Conference champions.” For Miami’s Big Three, this was the plan from the moment they chose to get together in Florida before the season.

The Heat had their difficulties along the way, but look at them now.

They just knocked off the team that won more games than any other, that boasted the league’s MVP in Derrick Rose and which had sent expectations soaring around Chicago in a way not seen since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were racking up championships.

Rose led Chicago with 25 points but hit just 9 of 29 shots. He fouled Wade on a key four-point play and missed a tying free throw with 26.7 seconds left.

James had 11 rebounds and six assists. Wade’s late surge helped negate his nine turnovers. Bosh added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Heat pulled out a dramatic win.

The Bulls looked like they were in good shape up 77-65 with about three minutes to go, but Wade started the deciding run with a runner and layup. A 3 by James pulled Miami within 77-72 with 2:07 left. Rose then scored on a spin move in the lane, but fouled Wade as he nailed a 3, resulting in a four-point play.

Then, after a miss by Rose, James tied it at 79 with another 3 with 1:01 remaining, sending a loud groan through the arena.

James buried another jumper to put Miami ahead 81-79 with 29.5 seconds left. Rose immediately got fouled by James, but missed the second free throw after making the first.

Kurt Thomas tipped the inbounds pass, but the Heat recovered, leading to two free throws for Bosh.

The Bulls still had one more chance to tie it, but Kyle Korver got doubled up top and passed to Rose on the wing.

His 3-pointer got blocked by James, with Udonis Haslem doubling him as time expired.

“We don’t even know what happened,” Wade said. “I’m not going to lie to you and say we do.” It all seemed like a blur to him — and not just the late rally. The entire season, really.

Wade scrolled all the way back to those first few days of training camp, when the Heat gathered at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida’s Panhandle, trying to limit distractions.

“It just seems like yesterday we were coming together as a new unit, and the Miami organization decided we needed to get away and (have) it just be about us and not let any outside distractions get in,” he said. “And it was just about us.” Now, James and his gang have their title shot.

He came close with Cleveland, getting all the way to the finals in 2007 but never could win it all. His surge at the end capped a terrific series in which he repeatedly made big shots and helped contain Rose at times.

For Chicago, it was simply a bitter end. After losing out on their bid to land some combination of two of the Big Three in free agency, they built a solid team that leaped to the top of the Eastern Conference with a league-leading 62 wins. That’s probably little consolation after they let this one slip away.

“I do think experience helps,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

“That being said, all these games came down to the end.

... Tonight, we had the lead and we couldn’t hold onto it.

Hopefully, we learn from that, move on. You use this experience to drive you so you can improve for next year.”