Oct. 30--NEW YORK -- The face of frustration, the one unseen through the Olympic gold and preseason hope, emerged late in the first half, as Heat guard Dwyane Wade argued a foul.
At the time, the New York Knicks were in the midst of closing the first half on a 23-6 run, on the way to Wednesday night's season-opening 120-115 victory over the Heat at Madison Square Garden.
Suddenly, it was last season all over again. Wade was doing what he could -- with four of the Heat's six points during the Knicks' blitz, including the lone Heat basket -- but it wasn't nearly enough.
At least when the Heat was reduced to Kasib Powell, Stephane Lasme and Blake Ahearn late last season, Wade was able to watch from the safety of the bench, rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee yet again.
No, this was Wade living the reality of the 2008-09 Heat, a youthful, reconfigured, undersized team trying to find its way, on the long road back from last season's league-worst 15-67.
That meant Wade handling the ball when nominal point guard Marcus Banks was alongside, encouraging first-round pick Michael Beasley to keep shooting through a rough debut, accepting the reality that eager-but-erratic rookie Mario Chalmers is his latest starting backcourt partner.
So Wade, for three quarters, tried to do it on his own, but his 9-of-24 shooting and 26 points weren't nearly enough, not even with the Heat rallying late from what had grown into a 23-point deficit.
In Beijing, there never was a need for patience, not when LeBron James was on one wing and Kobe Bryant on the other.
But now? Now he is soaring almost without a parachute.
Foremost, rookie coach Erik Spoelstra is finding his way. Wednesday, that meant a rotation that had center Mark Blount and guards Shaun Livingston and Daequan Cook off the bench early, after preseason indications that Chris Quinn and Yakhouba Diawara would play greater roles. On this night, Diawara wasn't even active, with Quinn only given late mop-up duty.
Beasley finished his pro debut with nine points on 4-of-14 shooting and four rebounds, with Chalmers offering the far stronger contribution, with 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Udonis Haslem, now a full-time 6-foot-8 starting center, added 23 points and 10 rebounds.
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