* This contest will be a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference first round playoff series in which Miami won 4-2.
* The Bulls have just three wins in their last 17 regular season meetings with the Heat.
* In its first trip to the NBA finals last season, Miami rallied from an 0-2 deficit against Dallas to win the first title in team history.
* Shaquille O'Neal currently has 24,764 career points, ranking him 15th all-time. He needs just 51 points to tie Patrick Ewing for 14th place.
* Miami owns a 10-8 record in opening night games. Pat Riley is 6-2 in Heat opening night contests, and is 14-6 all-time.
* Chicago has opened each of the last two seasons with overtime wins.
* The Bulls are 21-19 on opening night, including a 9-9 mark when opening on the road.
* Chicago has led the NBA in lowest opponent field goal percentage for each of the last two seasons. Last season, they held their opponents to just .426 shooting, while in 2004-05 they held their foes to .422.
Copyright 2006 STATS LLC
