Struggling against Bulls again Shaq, Heat not worried

	With Ben Wallace (right), the Bulls have a bigger presence inside to combat Shaquille O'Neal this time around. John Biever/SI
	RELATED • Deng, Bulls take opener against Heat
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CHICAGO -- A 2006 NBA championship ring, flanked by giant matching cuff links, was on display in the locker stall of Heat forward Antoine Walker before Game 1 of Miami's playoff meeting with the Bulls.

Not that Shaquille O'Neal, seated across the room, needed any gaudy bling to remind him of what was at stake.

"We know where we want to get back to," O'Neal said after Chicago's 96-91 victory had put his team in a 1-0 hole. "We had a very tricky, very iffy regular season ... now we've just got to pick it up."

Shaq and his Heat are clearly banking on following last year's blueprint, when they struggled against the Bulls in the first round before going on to win the title.

Maybe that's why Shaq didn't seem at all concerned about his performance Saturday, in which he got in early foul trouble and wound up finishing with just 19 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Shaq said, noting that his team is battle-tested. "The veterans that we have and all the situations and all the drama we've been through ... We're here now, everybody's healthy and we still have an opportunity to get this done ... and we will."

But if the Heat are going to defend their crown, they first must get past a Bulls team that is a year older and wiser. Led by Luol Deng (33 points, eight assists) and Ben Gordon (24 points, career-high 11 assists) Chicago showed it has no intention of rolling over to the defending champs. The Bulls also racked up a 25-4 edge in fast break points, while outrebounding Miami by a whopping 46-33 margin.

In addition, Chicago's defense did an effective job putting the clamps on Miami most of Game 1. Chicago has the perimeter defenders in Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefalosha to give Dwyane Wade a hard time. It's even tougher for the Heat star since he is not 100 percent due to shoulder and knee soreness. Wade had 21 points (on 7 of 16 shooting) in Game 1 but just two rebounds and three assists to go with five turnovers.

That's why Miami needs O'Neal to pick up the slack for his injured teammate and provide a dominating low post presence.

Shaq did that for the most part on Saturday, getting deep post position early to help get the Heat going and quiet the raucous United Center crowd. But as in last year's early playoff rounds, the Diesel got himself in foul trouble and the Heat lost much of their offensive rhythm.

"I'm just frustrated with the inconsistency of what's going on," he said, referring to the officiating. "Very, very, very frustrated."

But Shaq really can't blame this one on the refs. While some of his fouls Saturday were of the cheap variety, they were mostly because he was just a hair out of position.