Party over: Bulls ruin Heat's opener with 42-point rout

MIAMI (AP) -- They got their championship rings, saw the

postseason highlights played on giant video screens and watched a

new banner swing from the arena's rafters.

Everything was perfect for the Miami Heat.

And then the game began.

Paying for success

Thomas Tyrus Thomas' NBA debut ended early. The fourth pick in the 2006 draft went to the Bulls' locker room with 7:43 left with a broken nose. He and Heat forward James Posey collided while going for a rebound, and Thomas took a hard fall underneath the basket. "First game, first broken nose. Welcome to the life," said Thomas, who scored four points and had five rebounds in 16 minutes. Earlier Thomas had crashed into the basket support and limped off holding his back.

Kirk Hinrich scored 26 points, Chris Duhon added 20 and the

Chicago Bulls emphatically spoiled Miami's celebratory mood,

beating the defending NBA champion Heat 108-66 in Tuesday night's

season opener.

"Welcome back to reality," Heat coach Pat Riley said.

"Obviously it was absolutely one-sided. There isn't really much to

say, other than we do know and there has been a gauge put on how

much work we have to do."

It was -- by far -- the worst loss in NBA history for a defending

champion on opening night; the previous low was the Los Angeles

Lakers' 132-117 defeat to Golden State on Oct. 29, 1982. The Lakers

went on that season to win 58 games and return to the NBA Finals

under Riley.

Chicago seized command with a 37-14 second-quarter burst, a

stretch where the Bulls connected on 79 percent of their shots --

compared to 29 percent for the Heat, who simply never got rolling.

The lead was 59-30 at halftime and just kept growing.

"I'd be saying the same thing if we got beat. I'd say it's one

game," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "We have all the respect in

the world for them and they have something that we eventually want

to get. This one game is not indicative, I don't think, in any way

of what kind of season they are going to have."

Dwyane Wade had 25 points before sitting out much of the fourth

quarter for Miami, which didn't even have anyone else reach double

figures. The Heat turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 32

Chicago points and were outrebounded 49-29.

"I don't know how much getting the rings had to do with it,"

said Hinrich, who signed a five-year extension hours before tipoff.

"That probably had something to do with it. But we're excited.

It's a good start."

Luol Deng had 12 points and Thabo Sefolosha -- the league's first

player from Switzerland -- added 11 on 4-of-4 shooting for Chicago.

It wasn't the worst all-time loss for a reigning champion, but

it sure came close: Orlando beat Chicago 115-68 on April 2, 1999,

and that 47-point margin is the biggest defeat for a reigning

titleholder, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Elias Says

There has only been one season-opening game in NBA history -- i.e., the first game of the season for both teams -- in which the final score was so lopsided, defending champs or no defending champs. On Nov. 6, 1987, the Nuggets defeated the Clippers 139-93 in Denver. So the Bulls' victory in Miami was the most decisive road victory in the history of the NBA in a season-opening game for both teams. The 42-point loss matched the largest margin of defeat for Pat Riley in any of his 1,741 regular-season games as an NBA head coach. On April 22, 1990, in a so-what season finale at Portland, Riley's Lakers lost to the Trail Blazers 130-88. And the 42-point victory was the second-largest road victory in any regular-season game in Bulls' history. It missed the record by two points: Back in 1971, the Bulls won at Philadelphia 148-104. • For more Elias Says, Click here.

"We'll be all right," said Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, who

had only seven points and five rebounds. "Long season."

The Heat donned the same red uniforms they wore June 20 in

Dallas when they won the franchise's first title, and got their

rings in an elaborate pregame ceremony capped by raising the

commemorative banner to the rafters.

The championship feel was there.

The championship play was not.

"In some cases, the home team gets their rings and goes blub,

blub, blub, blub because they're so pumped," said NBA commissioner

David Stern, who handed out the jewelry to the Heat players,

coaches and staff before the game. "I've been to a couple of

those."

The teams last met in the first round of last season's playoffs,

when the Bulls frustrated the Heat often before finally falling to

the eventual champs in six games.

The Bulls had their way with the Heat this time around.

Wade hit a 3-pointer with 4:12 left in the opening quarter to

draw Miami within 17-13. But Chicago -- fueled by Heat turnovers and

foul trouble -- went on a 17-6 run over the next 7 minutes, building

a 15-point lead. And not coincidentally, the Bulls had 15 points

off 11 Miami turnovers to that point.

It was 51-28 after Walker made a free throw with 1:42 left in

the half, but Duhon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Chicago a

29-point lead. Apparently undeterred, Skiles picked up a technical

foul for arguing a call with referee Bernie Fryer.

That was about the last thing Skiles had to be upset about.

Miami never got closer than 22 in the third quarter, and the

outcome was in no doubt from there.

"Obviously, this is a total embarrassment," Heat center Alonzo

Mourning said. "We're better than what we showed out there

tonight. I know things will get better before they get worse. Just

kind of unfortunate, in our home opener, that we came out with this

kind of showing."Game notes
The Bulls' Andres Nocioni

and Wade each got technicals for arguing about foul calls. ...

Before Miami's ring ceremony, a moment of silence was held in honor

of Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach, who died Saturday.