Riley will coach Game 1 after mom's death
Sometime before every game, Pat Riley stands in the Miami Heat locker room and tries to say whatever he deems necessary at the time to motivate his team.
He may not have to say a word on Saturday night.
As if the Heat didn't have enough reasons already to be ready for the start of the Eastern Conference first-round series with the Chicago Bulls, another presented itself Friday when the team learned that Riley's mother Mary, 96, had died in upstate New York.
Riley did not speak with reporters after running practice on Friday, and will lead the Heat through their shootaround and then Game 1 of the series on Saturday. The team has not released any information about what Riley's plans are for Sunday and beyond.
"There's far more important things than basketball, obviously, but we should make his job as easy as possible right now by going out and doing everything in our power to win this game," forward Udonis Haslem said. "Everyone do their job. He's given us his best, and now it's time for us to give him something."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5510006