Heat victorious in Riley's return to the sideline

CHICAGO -- Everything about Pat Riley's return to the sideline looked familiar: whistling at his players through a curled tongue, stalking the sideline in French cuffs and slicked back hair.

And relying on his All-Star big man to win the game.

Riley's second tenure as Miami Heat coach got off to a successful start Tuesday, getting 30 points from Shaquille O'Neal in a 100-97 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Riley, the team president, stepped back into his old job on 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."

O'Neal made his first start in his 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.

The Bulls 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 got the ball back for a 3 from the left wing that hit the rim as the final seconds ticked away.

Despite a double-digit deficit early in the fourth, the Bulls refused to go away.

Songaila's jumper pulled them to within 84-80 with 4:26 left, and Hinrich's 3-pointer made it 86-83 and sent the Heat into a timeout. O'Neal's dunk boosted Miami's lead to 92-87 with about 2 minutes left, and Hinrich hit another 3 to cut Miami's lead to 94-92 with 1:13 remaining.

With the lead at three and a chance to seal the win, Wade missed the first of two free throws with 6.9 seconds, giving the Bulls one final gasp.

The Heat hung on. Riley's return was a success.