In many ways, he looked like the same old Riley.

But Riley said there was a big difference between the man who returned to the sideline and the guy who handed the coaching job to Van Gundy just before the start of the 2003-04 season. That Riley cited fatigue, after back-to-back losing seasons.

“I’m sure these two years have given him some time to reflect and think differently,” said Alonzo Mourning, the centerpiece during Riley’s first Miami tenure. “But at the same time, I know we’ll get into some intense situations on the court. And if we’re not playing up to our potential, we’re going to see the old Riles.”

Although Van Gundy said he wanted to spend more time with his family and Riley said he tried to persuade Van Gundy to stay, there was speculation that O’Neal drove out the former coach.

O’Neal denied that Tuesday.

“I had nothing to do with it,” he said. “Coach Riley’s not that type of person where I can go into the office and say, ’Why don’t you do this, why don’t you do that.’ He told me that when I first came here, that that’s not how this organization is run. I knew and understood that. I would never do that anyway.”

The Heat came into the season with championship expectations after losing to Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals and acquiring Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey. But they were treading around .500.

“They’re gonna attack you; that was the whole mentality when we played a Riley team,” Payton said. “When I was in Seattle, that was all we thought about: He’s going to have them ready to attack you.”

The Heat attacked Tuesday. Then, they held off the Bulls.

Notes: Riley vowed to take a cautious approach with PG Jason Williams, who missed his third consecutive game with right knee tendinitis. “He is a very valuable player and I’m not going to take chances with a guy,” Riley said. “My career ended with quadriceps tendinitis, it ended a long time before that actually, but I’m not going to take chance with him.” ... Gordon still feels some pain when he cuts. “It’s not all the way back yet, but I’ve just got to play through it and not think about it too much,” he said. “When you think about something that’s nagging, it seems like it’s never going to go away.”

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