IT'S ON!!!!

The NBA was back on the grind last night (thank God), with a season-opened that seemed to be the greatest ides ever on paper.The two-times defending champions vs the gritty contenders. The dominant, yet cocky celebrity-athletes vs working class America's team. More important, it was THE RETURN. The comeback of the only player who challenged LeBron James' MVP status over the last five years: Derrick Rose. If commissioner David Stern made anything clear during the last few years of his tenure is that a good story always sells. 

It looked like the greatest idea on the court for about nine minutes. Both teams hit the ground running, played sensational defense, caused turnovers, Derrick Rose slashed through enemy lines and exploded at the rim, it was just like Mr. Stern promised. But the Heat ended up winning 107-95 and from the 2nd quarter on, it wasn't a close game anymore. I think it's safe to say the Heat kicked the Bulls' asses in the season opener. So what happened exactly? Several very interesting things. Heres a nerdy bullet point presentation to help you understand how did it happen.

• One of the major differences between the Heat and the Bulls is that in Miami, there are players who can alleviate the pressure off LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Veteran Shane Battier, probably the most annoying player ever for Heat haters like me, shot 100% from behind the arc in four attemps. 100%! Ray Allen, who Miami changed into a corner spot-up sniper, had a great game too. In the meantime Mike Dunleavy, who is supposed to be the Bulls' answer to Battier, shot for 33% overall and was 0-5 in the first half as Miami was riding its streamroller. That made a huge difference.

• The Bulls didn't have a strategic answer to the Heat when the starting five wasn't on the court. When the Rose-Butler-Deng-Boozer-Noah was on the floor, the Bulls made sense. Rose could slash through the defense, kick to one of his wing shooters or try for the bucket, because he had his two bigs by his side. But as soon as Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler got in foul trouble and D-Rose got pulled off the court, Carlos Boozer started drifting away from the basket and the problems began. Boozer let Birdman get away with several easy, yet important rebounds that contributed to the Heat taking such a crushing lead in the first half.

• I'm not done with Boozer. The guy had the most humiliating game. Sure, he scored 31, but the Heat strategy was pretty clear: let Boozer get the easy buckets and shut down everybody else. Nobody really bothered defending him. It was embarrassing to watch. It's great strategical planning from Coach Spoelestra. He showed keen understanding of the Bulls' offensive dynamics. Boozer was needed on the offensive glass to fight for rebounds that could've helped stop the bleeding, but he was nowhere to be found on that end. I'm aware it is unfair to him, but with Joakim Noah only playing 20 minutes because of a groin injury, Boozer needed to step up and play outside his comfort zone and he didn't. Next game, Booze!

• The Heat's defense was absolutely fantastic. The kings of small ball defended their title last night. They pressured the perimeter like there was no tomorrow and the Bulls showed they were not ready early when Mario Chalmers picked D-Rose's pocket on the first possession. Another embarrassing moment. It became clear after one quarter that what we were witnessing. A well-oiled, championship machine playing a rusty team, struggling to find its groove. Not exactly the confrontation we were promised by David Stern, but who can blame him for creating such efficient hype?

• Poor Tony Snell. Kid saw some playing time in the 2nd quarter after Deng and Butler got into foul trouble. Who was guarding? Just one of the best players of all-time. Predictably, LeBron blew right through him and made him look out of place. Snell also went 0-3 shooting and looked nervous as hell. Poor kid. He's bound to play an important role in Chicago's future with Luol Deng's impending free agency, let's hope that horrible baptism by fire didn't fuck him up too much. He has the potential to be an interesting player.