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Heat-Bulls: 56k | 300k 
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Miami won for the third time in four games, defeating Chicago twice and Atlanta while losing to league-leading Indiana. The Heat (38-39) remained one-half game behind fifth-place New Orleans in the Eastern Conference playoff race with five games left.
"We really have to give ourselves the opportunity to finish the season out well," Jones said. "You have to win games when you think you are the better team. That's been known since the NBA has been around. If you're better than a team, you have to beat them and keep moving."
Miami is two wins shy of securing its first playoff berth since 2001. It plays the remainder of its games against playoff contenders, including two apiece against eighth-place Boston and ninth-place Cleveland.
"We have four games coming up against teams that are playing for their playoff lives," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We're two away from clinching those playoffs and it's better than the three it was before. I'm a negative (guy) and keep telling them we're not there yet."
The Heat trailed by one three times in the opening 10 minutes but took the lead for good by bridging the first two quarters with a 13-3 run. Five players scored during the stretch for Miami, which had a 28-17 lead after Samaki Walker's layup with 7:31 left in the first half.
The Heat put away the game with a 14-2 run in the third quarter highlighted by right points from Butler. Jones capped the decisive burst with a jumper to give Miami its biggest lead at 62-39 with 4:16 remaining.
Lamar Odom collected 11 points and 13 rebounds and Brian Grant grabbed nine boards as as the Heat dominated inside with a 56-44 advantage on the glass.
"They really controlled the game from beginning to end," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "Miami is a very difficult team for us to play. They are very physical. They put their hands on you, and we have not reacted well to that yet."
Eddy Curry scored 20 points and Jannero Pargo added 17 to lead the Bulls, who failed in a bid for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
"It stinks to have all these losses," said Bulls rookie Kirk Hinrich, who had 10 points and 12 assists. "It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You just don't feel good. It has just been a real long year."
Chicago's leading scorer Jamal Crawford was limited to just four points on 1-of-10 shooting after averaging 25.5 points in his previous two games.
"He looked really tired to me," Skiles said. "He was passive offensive and defensively. We decided to go with Jannero Pargo to see if we could get something going."