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CHICAGO - Pat Riley insists he’s a changed man, even if his return to coaching had a decidedly familiar feel.
He whistled to get his player’s attention. He stalked the sideline in a designer jacket and slacks. His hair was slicked back. And, yes, his team won with an All-Star center leading the way.
Riley’s second tenure as Miami Heat coach got off to a successful start Tuesday night, with a 100-97 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“Yes, I liked this win,” Riley said. “If we had lost, I’d have gone and retired.”
The team president stepped back into his old job Monday, when Stan Van Gundy resigned. He saw a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter dwindle to two, then watched a 3-pointer by Chicago’s Luol Deng clang off the rim as time expired.
“You coach on instinct,” Riley said. “It’s going to take some time for me to get real comfortable with all the things you have to do at the end of the game. It’s going to take me time to get up to speed on everything.”
Shaquille O’Neal scored a game-high 30 points in his first start and second game back for Miami since spraining his right ankle — an injury that knocked him out of 18 games. Dwyane Wade and Antoine Walker scored 14 apiece.
Kirk Hinrich led the Bulls with 26 points, and Darius Songaila added a season-high 19. Chicago’s Ben Gordon scored nine points in 25 minutes after missing two games with a sprained right knee.
Despite a 12-point deficit early in the fourth, the Bulls refused to roll over for Riley.
They had one final chance after Wade hit 1 of 2 free throws with 6.9 seconds left. Deng, near the Heat basket, inbounded the ball to Chandler near midcourt and sprinted upcourt for a 3 from the left wing that hit the rim as the final seconds ticked away.
Sidelined since Nov. 3, O’Neal grabbed 10 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday’s overtime victory over Washington and found himself on the bench with two fouls less than three minutes into Tuesday’s game.
He played 27 minutes but finished 12-for-21, blocked a shot and grabbed seven rebounds.
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“You can play good defense against Shaq and he can still score,” Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. “Tonight, he had it going and he hurt us.”
But Riley was the star.
He patrolled the sideline in a black jacket, crisp white collared shirt, cranberry tie and gray slacks. His hair was combed back, as usual, although slightly faded since his first tenure. He had a few words with referee Eli Roe after Wade was blocked by a crowd of Bulls midway through the first quarter.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Rajon Rondo recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 95-91 win Sunday over the Chicago Bulls, who were without star guard Derrick Rose.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
