MIAMI, Jan. 22 (Ticker) -- It may not be too late for the Miami Heat to climb back into the playoff race in the mediocre Eastern Conference.

After struggling for three quarters against the league's worst team, the Heat pulled away for a 92-79 victory over the Chicago Bulls, extending their season-high winning streak to six games.

Eddie Jones and Rod Strickland scored 20 points apiece for the Heat, who pulled within 5 1/2 games of the final playoff spot in the East.

Miami also is close to escaping the basement, drawing within just one-half game of the New York Knicks.

NBA.comTV highlights from Bulls-Heat: 56k | 300k With easy shots like this, it's no surprise Alonzo Mourning made six of the seven shots he took. Victor Baldizon NBAE/Getty Images

"We're climbing over a couple of teams," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "We were dead last in the league. We're climbing over a few teams, but we're only halfway there. We need to get another five to six games to get to those teams that are competing for the playoffs. That's the pressure that's on us. It's just that we're getting better. We have no cushion."

But Miami (14-26) is still 12 games under .500 and remains a longshot for the playoffs.

"Six in a row, that's good, but, you know, anytime we start feeling on top of the world, coach just comes in and puts our record on the board and that brings us back to reality pretty quick," Miami forward Brian Grant said.

With 8:54 remaining in the first quarter, Strickland picked up his first assist -- and the 7,212nd of his career -- to pass Lenny Wilkens and move into seventh on the all-time list.

"I pride myself as a playmaker," said Strickland, who handed out six assists. "I've been that since I've been 10, so I want to get up there as far as I can."

The final score represented the biggest advantage for Miami, which nursed a 63-62 lead into the final period and struggled to take control throughout the first half.

Riley pointed to Miami's 20 turnovers that the Bulls converted into 28 points.

"We did not come at all ready to play," Riley said. "We reverted back to the disposition we had a while back. We turned the ball over just incessantly. We were throwing the ball to them. They had 22 fastbreak points and most of them were just gifts from us throwing it to the them."

Ron Artest scored 24 points and Brad Miller added 19 for the Bulls, who dropped to 1-19 on the road.

"We were in the game throughout but at the end, we just didn't execute," Artest said. "We didn't do the little things that win games. We turned the ball over and we didn't make free throws when we had the opportunity."

The Bulls committed 19 turnovers and were just 9-of-17 from the line. Miami made 20-of-23 free throws.

Chicago swingman Ron Mercer left in the third quarter with a bruised right knee and did not return, but coach Bill Cartwright does not expect the injury to be serious.

"Ron will get well soon," Cartwright said. "The initial indication is just a bruise. We'll find out more tomorrow when he tries to walk around."

Strickland's jumper capped a 6-0 spurt that gave Miami a 76-68 lead with 3:19 remaining before Artest's 3-pointer and Marcus Fizer's jumper brought the Bulls within three with 1:58 to go.

Jones turned back Chicago's surge with a 3-pointer and Alonzo Mourning completed a three-point play to make it 81-73 with 62 seconds left.

"In the passing lanes, we never made the adjustments and finally we began to adjust in the second half," Riley said. "That's a little bit of a step forward."

Jones admitted the Heat came out flat following Monday's 95-93 overtime victory at Cleveland.

"We wanted to come out and have a great, great push early because we knew we played big minutes last night," he said. "We knew they (Bulls) played, but we still had to come out and try to take them out of the game early and it just didn't happen for us. Honestly, I felt terrible the first few minutes."

The Bulls opened a 24-20 lead after the first quarter before Miami outscored Chicago, 22-17, in the second period to take a 42-41 halftime lead.

"We didn't quite finish the game," Cartwright said. "When we were moving the ball well, we made the shots. However, we don't yet know to finish well."

It was the 500th game for Riley as Miami coach. He improved to 307-193.