7 Things We Learned from Heat vs. Bulls Opening Night Tilt
The Chicago Bulls got their MVP leader Derrick Rose back.
But the Miami Heat picked up their championship rings from last season and took the first step toward building their jewelry collection next summer.
After weathering a late-game charge, the Heat recovered in time to salvage a 107-95 victory on Tuesday night. The deficit was deceptively close; Miami turned a two-point lead after the first quarter into a 21-point edge by intermission.
Thanks to their own sizzling shooting display (51.4 percent from the field, 55.0 percent from deep) and an equally frigid night by the Bulls (42.2 and 26.9, respectively), the Heat blocked out distractions and cruised to a somewhat comfortable win.
Besides putting notches in the wins and losses columns, this game opened some eyes to a number of truths for these Eastern Conference powers.
Whether these strengths can be solidified and these weaknesses be corrected over the next 81 games will be something worth tracking from any corner of the basketball world.
1. Derrick Rose Is Back, but He's Rusty
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Windy City fans needed to see this. Heck, hoops heads across the globe had been waiting 18 months for this moment.
Never mind that his opponents were raising a championship banner for the second straight season. Or that Derrick Rose himself had been shredding nets throughout the preseason.
This was the real Rose, free from the minutes restrictions that typically chain a player after returning from a prolonged absence. More than 18 months removed from tearing his ACL, he finally had the chance to test out his left knee on basketball's biggest stage.
And, boy, did he deliver.
His final line doesn't show it (12 points, 4-of-15 from the field, 1-of-7 from deep, four assists and five turnovers in 34 minutes), but Rose looked like his former self.
Although they came in spurts, his explosive drives to the basket were back. He launched off his left knee in traffic, as clear a sign as any that he has complete trust in the joint.
Rose himself wouldn't admit to having any rust, via B/R's own Ethan J. Skolnick, and surely there were other factors plaguing his stat sheet.
The Heat crowded him at every opportunity and forced the ball out of his hands. As his teammates went about building a brick house, that defensive clasp only tightened.
Credit Miami for constructing a sound defensive game plan and executing it to near perfection. But, again, this was his first real game action since April 2012.
Rust might not have been the only reason he had an off night, but you have to think it limited his production.
2. The Miami Heat Have Scary Depth
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So, the Heat buried one of their biggest challengers and did so quite convincingly. Must have been a monstrous effort from the Big Three, right?
No, not at all.
LeBron James split his time as scorer (17 points) and creator (eight assists). Dwyane Wade labored his way to 13 points in 36 minutes (5-of-13 from the field). Chris Bosh was steady (16 points and six boards in 31 minutes) but not exactly a game changer.
That role fell to Miami's supporting cast, who seemed to widen the gap between these two teams whenever they took the floor.
Shane Battier and Ray Allen chipped in with 25 points combined and hit 7-of-10 from beyond the arc between them. Reserve guard Norris Cole added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, and the 6'2" Cleveland State product snagged seven boards. Chris Andersen brought rim protection (two blocks) and a presence on the glass (eight rebounds) in his 17 minutes of work.
Miami had a 42-26 advantage in bench points, and the Heat reserves enjoyed a staggering plus-55 rating in their floor time.
Heat coach Erik Spoelsta went nine-deep in his rotation, but he has ample room to grow that number over the season. Shooters Michael Beasley, Rashard Lewis and James Jones never got off the bench. Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden joined veteran guard Roger Mason Jr. on the inactive list.
Whether he needs scoring, shooting, size or stoppers, Spoelstra his options with his second unit. Oh, and his starting 5 isn't too shabby, either.
3. Contract Aside, Carlos Boozer Has Value
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It seems like Carlos Boozer has been an amnesty candidate from the second the ink dried on the five-year, $75 million contract he signed back in 2010.
For a player who was closing in on his 29th birthday and may have seen his stat sheet padded by the Utah Jazz's interior-friendly system, those talks seemed to have some merit.
Boozer has his limits. He's not about to discover the defensive end of the floor in this, his 11th season in the NBA. His days of being considered anything more than a good rebounder are behind him.
But he's far from a being a contract albatross.
While most of his teammates struggled to find any offensive consistency in this game, Boozer provided a steady hand. He poured in a game-high 31 points, connecting on 13-of-18 of his shots from the field and all five of his free-throw attempts.
If the Bulls are ready to knock off the Heat in a seven-game series, they'll need to attack Miami's vulnerable interior. And that's exactly where Boozer did most of his damage.
He may not have many more 30-point outbursts this season—he had two in 79 games in 2012-13—but the Bulls shouldn't need those kind of numbers from him once Rose finds his footing.
4. The Dwyane Wade Knee Watch Has Started
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I wish I could say this was simply nitpicking on an otherwise dominant night for the Heat, but the Dwyane Wade watch will be a constant theme throughout the year.
The nine-time All-Star admitted that a procedure he underwent back in 2002 has contributed to his ongoing battles with knee pain, via ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst.Considering 11 years have passed since the operation, it's pretty clear that these problems aren't going away.
He wasn't a liability on the floor, but his aggression seemed to be lacking.
He settled for some long twos, which ultimately led to his underwhelming stat line: 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting in 36 minutes. Wade, who's seen his free-throw attempts drop in four of the last five seasons, earned just five trips to the foul line.
Just like his MVP teammate, Wade can't be judged on his scoring numbers alone.
But with only four rebounds and three assists—along with three turnovers and four fouls—to show for his playing time, this was far from the Wade fans are used to seeing.
There's more than simply a championship at stake this season. With early termination options set to surface for each of Miami's talented trio this summer, the fate of the franchise could be hanging in the balance.
Conventional wisdom says James will need to see more out of his superstar sidekick to stick around South Beach beyond next summer.
Wade still has 81 games to lower any medical red flags, but this was a troubling start to this crucial campaign.
5. Jimmy Butler's Emergence Was No Mirage
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Jimmy Butler isn't supposed to be in this position.
He played four seasons of college basketball (one at Tyler Junior College, three at Marquette) in a time when anything beyond a one-and-done college stay seems to sap star potential. He was the final pick of the first round in 2011 and a non-factor in his rookie year (2.6 points in 8.5 minutes per game).
If he hadn't been forced into action by a rash of injuries last March, he might still be an afterthought in Tom Thibodeau's rotation. But after his strong postseason showing (13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game), he entrenched himself with Thibodeau's starters.
How did the safety of a solidified spot treat the "3-and-D" wing? Quite well, actually.
Like Boozer, Butler wasn't affected by the lid that seemed to be fixed on Chicago's basket. He scored 20 points in 30 minutes, while shooting 50 percent from both the field (6-of-12) and downtown (2-of-4).
The only thing holding back his production was foul trouble. He managed less than six minutes in the first half and carried three personal fouls with him into intermission.
But once he learned how to defend without fouling—something the Bulls struggled with throughout the contest—he was offensive help for Boozer and a defensive presence on the perimeter.
The fact that he maintained aggressiveness in the midst of those whistles (five steals and a block) showed basketball savvy well beyond his years.
His ability to stretch the defense makes him an ideal backcourt mate for Rose, and his willingness to play both ends of the floor will keep him as a fixture in Thibodeau's rotation.
6. No Free-Agent Clouds over Sunny South Florida
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The questions surrounding the future of Miami's Big Three won't stop.
Given the championship pedigree of this team and the championship potential they could add to another roster, they're questions worth asking. Yes, even if we all know an answer isn't coming anytime soon.
For some teams, this feeling of uncertainty could derail a season. But I just can't see that happening with the Heat.
On a night when championship banners were flying and the basketball world was buzzing over Rose's return, the Heat locked in. They played with a purpose at both ends of the floor, bringing relentless energy defensively and tactical execution offensively.
The ball moved crisply between each of Miami's scorers. All nine players that Spoelstra called on managed at least six points, and seven of them hit double-digits.
Maybe selfishness takes over next summer. Maybe the same economic constraints that forced the amnesty of Mike Miller this offseason disband the Big Three in 2014.
But for now, Miami's operating with a collective goal. This team wants another title, even if not everyone's around to celebrate it at the next ring ceremony.
The external pressure with these free-agency questions will never match the burden this group places on itself to add another banner to the suddenly crowded rafters inside the AmericanAirlines Arena.
7. This Can't Be All About Rose
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The key to countering Miami's frantic defense was simple. It was strictly a numbers game; with two defenders hounding Rose on the perimeter, at least one of his teammates had an open look at the basket.
Look, bad shooting nights are a part of the business. But this didn't have to be one of them.
Chicago's offensive struggles weren't the result of misfiring from the outside, although it did do plenty of that (7-of-26 from three). This stemmed from the same problem that plagued the Bulls before Rose was injured: the lack of offensive creativity.
The Heat hounded Rose on his catches, because they didn't think the Bulls had another player who could beat them off the dribble. Guess what? Miami was right.
Rose needs help at the offensive end, and more of it than just Boozer and Butler. Luol Deng (four points, 2-of-8) has to take some of that pressure off Rose. Ditto for Joakim Noah (two, 1-of-4), Mike Dunleavy (10, 3-of-9) and Kirk Hinrich (six, 2-of-6).
Rose is a special offensive talent, and one the Bulls will rightfully look to exploit. But opposing teams know this and will react accordingly the same way Miami did.
"They did a good job of trapping Derrick, getting the ball out of his hands," Noah told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "But if they put two on the ball like that, we have to make them pay. It's on all of us."
The first part of Noah's quote will likely be a running theme throughout the year. But if the latter part stays on a loop, then Chicago's championship plan will never come to fruition.
