Jermaine O'Neal resembled the early decade vintage version for much of Wednesday night, the way he soared for rebounds, shook free for dunks and left the Knicks dizzy with nifty spin moves and jump hooks.

``I'm not going to say by any means that I've arrived because it's only one game,'' the Heat center said Thursday. ``[But] I felt good.''

With his impressive display in the season opener, O'Neal rekindled memories of the player who was named an All-Star six times with the Indiana Pacers. On Friday night, he hopes for an encore when he returns to Indianapolis -- where the Heat has experienced nothing but misery for seven years. (O'Neal inflicted a fair share of that misery.)

The Heat has lost 14 consecutive games at Conseco Fieldhouse, dating to a victory on New Year's Eve in 2001.

That was O'Neal's sixth season in the NBA and second with the Pacers, but also his breakout year -- the first of six consecutive seasons in which he averaged at least 19 points.

Now, after averaging 13.6 and 13.3 points the past two seasons, O'Neal made a case Wednesday that a grueling offseason program, including six weeks with noted Chicago trainer Tim Grover, restored many of the skills left diminished by knee problems.

The 22 points and 10-of-12 shooting was encouraging. Even more so was his game-high 12 rebounds in 29 minutes.

He averaged 6.4 rebounds last season, combining his Heat and Toronto statistics, but only 5.4 rebounds in his 27 games for Miami.

He spoke last season of how difficult it was to jump, and then jump again, to retrieve rebounds. That no longer is an issue.

``I was fired up for the 12 rebounds,'' coach Erik Spoelstra said, especially pleased that ``five of them were in traffic with two hands that could have gone either way.''

Here's what else Spoelstra said he noticed: ``His legs looked lively. What Jermaine does is he brings us a different look. We can play inside-out with him. He's got great hands. He can finish at the rim. I see him here late in the afternoons, after everybody's gone, working on stabilization, strength, flexibility exercises. All of that is necessary for him.''

O'Neal said he wants to make sure Dwyane Wade ``doesn't have to work as hard as he had to work last year to get the team the win. Maybe every night it's not going to equal out to 22 to 12.''

At the start of training camp, before turning 31 last month, O'Neal quibbled with the notion he was too old.

``Who the hell gets too old at 30?'' he said in late September. ``Thirty, you're supposed to be in your prime. I have refined my jump hook, my first step. I had to settle for jump shots [last season] because I couldn't get to the basket.

``What I averaged last year wasn't respectable to me. Respectable, to me, is dominating. It's not about being in an All-Star game and a contract. It's looking across from opponents and seeing they're fearful.''

On Thursday, he conceded, ``I'm not going to be able to jump as high as I was jumping at 23. But I'm pretty sure anybody else drafted in my class [1996] is not jumping or running as fast. Mentally, I'm a lot better overall player than I was in Indiana because I know how to play the game better.''

Traded by Indiana to Toronto in July 2008, O'Neal averaged 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in two games at Indianapolis last season -- one with the Raptors and one with the Heat -- but said he was limited in both games.

``It's good to go back in there healthy,'' he said.

The Heat has gone 7-7 at home against Indiana since it last won a road game against the Pacers.

``It's hard to say why it's been so many years,'' Spoelstra said. ``Their style is similar to [the Knicks] -- hectic, fast, frenetic.''

The Heat's 15-26 road record last season tied with Utah for second-worst among playoff teams, ahead of only Chicago (13-28).

``Possibly, our depth might make a difference now,'' Spoelstra said.

• James Jones (flu) did not travel to Indianapolis.

• Jamaal Magloire will serve the second game of a two-game suspension for an incident in an exhibition game in Detroit.

• Spoelstra said Michael Beasley ``did a lot of good things defensively'' in the opener.

• Udonis Haslem, who averaged 34.1 minutes as a starter last season, played 30 off the bench Wednesday.

``Of course, everybody wants to start, but if I get my minutes, how can I complain?'' he said Thursday.

``With some people, it's about hearing their name called for the starting lineup. It doesn't matter to me.''

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