Injury casts major cloud over win

Toronto: Chicago and Miami opened the National Basketball Association post-season with comfortable wins on Saturday but the Bulls paid a steep price for their victory when Derrick Rose was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

There were smiles all around in Miami as the Heat, led by 32 points from LeBron James, scorched the New York Knicks 100-67 in the opening game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.

But few were smiling in Chicago after watching Rose crumple to the floor in pain late in the Bulls' 103-91 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Meanwhile, the favoured Oklahoma City Thunder needed Kevin Durant's last-second shot to defeat the reigning champions Dallas Mavericks 99-98 in the West, and the Orlando Magic opened their Eastern series with an 81-77 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

Two hours after the game ended, the Bulls said the All-Star guard's season was over because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament.