Temperature Starts Hot, Rises

There was another elbow, and another double foul, and now Dennis Rodman was clapping in front of the Miami bench Friday night. This was the first game, first quarter, first chance for the personality of this playoff series between the Heat and Chicago Bulls to be set.

Now it was being cemented in ugliness. Miami coach Pat Riley had used some rough play in New York. Rodman used them first in Detroit.

But here the Bulls forward was, standing before Riley in the United Center, mocking the Heat coach with his claps, telling him he was recognizing this kind of play for what it was.

“Way to go, coach,” Rodman said. “Way to go.”

Riley didn’t hesitate. “Bleep you!” the Heat coach shouted. Then again. And soon the Bulls players were pulling back Rodman, and the Heat players were looking at Riley, and taking a lesson, as if they needed one at this point.

They understood the gameplan. Already, Kurt Thomas had driven a blatant elbow into Michael Jordan, resulting in one of three early Heat technicals. Thomas also had received two body-banging double fouls with Rodman, the second of which resulted in Riley and Rodman cursing at each other.

All this in the first quarter. All this to set a tone, which was ugly and constant, all the way to when Heat center Alonzo Mourning left cursing at the referee after his ejection with the Heat loss certain, followed immediately by Riley.

It’s the oldest trick in the sports book: If you can’t beat ‘em outright, beat ‘em up. Push ‘em. Prod ‘em. Knock ‘em down, and maybe in so doing knock ‘em off their game.

This is Riley’s tactic this series. It is the one with which he took a talent-challenged Knicks team to the NBA Finals. It is the only card to play against this NBA-best Chicago team, and his players obviously respond well to it.

The Heat might have even stolen Game 1 had center Mourning not benched himself with two fouls within 3 minutes, a hole he never got out of all night. At half, Mourning had two points and the Heat was tied at 54.

This is what elbow grease and a few elbows did. Two years ago, when these teams met in the playoffs, the Heat wouldn’t touch Jordan as he sailed through the lane.

Now it wasn’t just Thomas, a rookie. It was guard Rex Chapman clotheslining Jordan on a layup attempt, anger flashing in Jordan’s eyes as he got up. It was Keith Askins body-slamming Jordan as he came in for another layup, Jordan this time telling Askins he’d have to do better than that. The ball went in. So did the foul shot.

This is why Riley’s in-your-face tactics have no chance. Intimidation can work against some teams, but the Heat has as much chance of winning this emotional game as it does the real one.

Maybe Scottie Pippen can be intimidated and Rodman thrown off his game. But Jordan is the leader here, and he feeds off this, just as the Bulls feed off him. He scored 31 points through three quarters. He put the Heat down, like he always has.

Meanwhile, it is the other stats that will draw notice. Three Heat ejections, including Chris Gatling. Six Heat technicals for arguing or rough play. Three double-fouls calls, including one where Gatling was sent sprawling by a Toni Kukoc elbow.

These are two different teams led by two different coach’s motivations. Riley gives his players football pep talks and chest-bumps them. Chicago’s Phil Jackson tapes inspirational quotes to his players’ lockers, such as one for guard Steve Kerr from the poet Walt Whitman (“Henceforth, we seek not good fortune. We ourselves are good fortune.”)

As far as this series is concerned, the Heat is on the clock, to borrow an NFL draft phrase, and has been since this pairing was announced. It will be an accomplishment if they take one game from the Bulls, a national story if they take two.

But they won’t go meekly, or easily, like any previous Heat teams. Pat Riley won’t improve his image any or win any friends at all. But it is the road he has chosen: Hard work, followed by a hard elbow, and see if the combination is enough for the Heat to steal a game.