Riley's mother dies on eve of playoffs

MIAMI -- Sometime before every game, Pat Riley stands in the Miami Heat locker room and tries to say whatever he deems necessary at the time to motivate his team.

He may not have to say a word tonight.

As if the Heat didn't have enough reasons already to be ready for the start of the Eastern Conference first-round series with the Chicago Bulls, another presented itself Friday when the team learned that Riley's mother Mary, 96, had died in upstate New York.

Riley did not speak with reporters after running practice on Friday, and will lead the Heat through their shootaround and then Game 1 of the series on today. The team has not released any information about what Riley's plans are for Sunday and beyond.

"There's far more important things than basketball, obviously, but we should make his job as easy as possible right now by going out and doing everything in our power to win this game," forward Udonis Haslem said. "Everyone do their job. He's given us his best, and now it's time for us to give him something."

Riley spent four days earlier this week in his native Schenectady, N.Y., area with his mother, returning to the club on Thursday. He missed Miami's final two regular-season games, both losses in which neither Shaquille O'Neal nor Dwyane Wade played.

"Most of the guys here are veterans," O'Neal said. "And we know what we have to do."

Miami, the East's No. 2 seed, went 4-7 in its last 11 games -- albeit the last three of those were played with the Heat knowing that they could neither rise nor slip in the conference playoff picture.

Chicago, meanwhile, won 10 of its final 11 games and enters the playoffs as the league's hottest team -- one that teetered on the brink of playoff elimination for weeks before rallying to claim the East's seventh seed. One of those wins was Sunday in Miami, a 117-93 rout where the Heat rested their starters for much of the second half.

"Everyone is expecting us to lose," Bulls guard Chris Duhon said. "It just relaxes us and gives us an opportunity to go and play our game."

The Heat won the season series 2-1 with the Bulls, winning two games in Chicago by one and three points.

"Our guys have been able to hang with them," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "But this is going to be a different animal."

Chicago led the NBA in field-goal percentage defense this season, letting opponents connect on only 42.6 percent of their shot attempts.

Wade would be thrilled to do even that well against the Bulls.

He struggled this season more against Chicago than any other team, averaging only 12.3 points on 24.3 percent shooting. The Bulls have come at him in waves, with Kirk Hinrich, Duhon and Ben Gordon all taking turns guarding Wade at times -- and with others waiting in the lane to disrupt his rim-attacking as well.

Stopping Wade is only a part of the challenge when facing Miami, of course. O'Neal averaged 20 points and 9.3 rebounds during the regular season -- both career lows which have prompted many to openly question if he remains a truly dominant force.

For their part, the Bulls sound convinced.

"I know for a fact Shaq is going to be ready for this time of year," Skiles said.