Ben Gordon hit 24 points while Briton Luol Deng had 22 and 12 rebounds as the Bulls secured a 4-0 whitewash in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

"A sweep was something we never thought about or at least I didn't," Deng said.

"We were taking each game as it came and concentrating on that effort. We didn't look ahead."

The Heat became the first defending champions since the San Antonio Spurs in 2000 to be eliminated in the first round.

"Last year was a storybook written year, and this year was the opposite," said Miami's Dwyane Wade after finishing with 24 points.

"They just did everything better," said team-mate Shaquille O'Neal. "They played harder, got to all of the loose balls, all of the rebounds and hit shots. They just played well."

It is the first time Chicago have advanced past the first round of the play-offs in nine years.

They will face Easterrn Conference top seeds Detroit in the second round.