MIAMI - With the new championship ring covering much of the fourth finger on his right hand, Miami coach Pat Riley showed the Heat a horror film Wednesday.

Miami Heat head coach Pat Riley sits on the bench during the second quarter of basketball against the Chicago Bulls Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006 in Miami. The Bulls defeated the Heat 108-66. [Reuters]

It was the second quarter from Tuesday's disastrous opener against Chicago, a 12-minute stretch when the Bulls outscored Miami 37-14 and turned ring night into a rout, one that ended with the Heat falling 108-66, matching the fourth-largest defeat in franchise history.

"The second quarter was basically a tell-all for the whole game," Riley said. "And anything after the second quarter was irrelevant. ... Just a myriad of breakdowns and frustration."

So when the tape was done and the 227 "minuses" the Heat coaching staff found while reviewing the game, utilizing the team's complex formula that measures effectiveness and effort were analyzed, Riley wanted to send the players home.

Some, however, respectfully disagreed.

They wound up talking Riley into having a long practice anyway, one that ended 4 hours, 12 minutes after the team was told to arrive for work.

"We went through a lot of discussions, from coach to player and from player to coach," said guard Dwyane Wade, who had 25 points Tuesday night, the only Heat player to reach double digits in scoring. "Coach told us to go home, but we felt we needed practice today and certain guys said they wanted to practice, so we came up and did it. Long day, but hopefully we got something out of it."

By the end, their mesh practice jerseys were drenched with sweat and players clearly looked tired in the final moments of the workout.

But their point was obvious - it's simply time to forget a night that went so very, very wrong.

"A lot of emotions today," Heat guard Gary Payton said. "It was one of those things where it's a good practice and it ain't a good practice. This was something we needed to get out of our system."

There were a lot of numbers to glean from the Heat's first game as NBA champions and none of them were good. Besides it being the worst opening-night loss ever by a reigning titleholder, the 42-point divide matched the biggest margin of defeat in Riley's coaching career.

In many other areas, the statistical gap between the Bulls and Heat was shockingly wide. Consider:

- Field goal percentage: Chicago 49, Miami 39.

- Rebounds: Chicago 49, Miami 29.

- Points off turnovers: Chicago 32, Miami 15.

- 3-point percentage: Chicago 54, Miami 18.

"It's not that big of a deal," Heat forward Antoine Walker said. "We're embarrassed. We obviously want to perform better. We got beat by 40 points. There ain't no if, ands or buts about it. We just have to come out with a better effort on both ends of the floor."

There's still a clear 'it's-one-game-out-of-82' mentality from the Heat, who know that a win over New Jersey on Friday will go a long way in the healing process from the opening-night debacle.

And Riley said he's already left the disappointment behind.

"It was not much fun playing in the game, obviously, after we got down by 20, 25 in the second quarter," Riley said. "It made for a very long night for us and for the fans. It was an absolute terrible display of basketball. There's really no excuses. You can use whatever you want, but there aren't any."