Miami Heat rout Orlando Magic as "Big Three" inspire big win

MIAMI (Reuters) - The much anticipated home debut of the Heat's "Big Three" exceeded expectations as Miami routed their interstate and divisional rival Orlando Magic 96-70.

The Heat dominated the second half defensively, limiting the Magic to just 25 points to turn a narrow six point halftime lead into a comfortable victory.
"The guys now can't go back on this," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They've showed me defensively what they're capable of."
Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 26 points, including 12 in the third quarter as the Heat took command of the game.
LeBron James had 15 points and seven assists and Chris Bosh had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Udonis Haslem had a double-double coming off the bench with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
"When me and Chris (Bosh) decided to join him (Wade), and even the rest of the guys, this is what we envisioned," said James.
"Is it going to be a 26-point win every night? No, it's the NBA and we know that, but the fans, they came out and the least we could do is play hard for them."
Dwight Howard scored 19 first half points for Orlando but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter without scoring in the second half to lead the Magic. The Magic starters combined for a meager 37 points, and just seven in the second half.
"I think their defense was very good," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.
"I think that their length and the way that they got into the passing lanes made it tough for us to get good ball movement. Passing's a major problem with our team. It really is."

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Howard leads Magic to crushing opening win over Wizards

ORLANDO (Reuters) - The Orlando Magic began life in their new Amway Center home with a dominating 112-83 victory over the Washington Wizards Thursday.

John Wall vs Dwight  "SuPeRMaN" Howard

Four-times All-Star Dwight Howard led the Magic with a double-double, scoring 23 points and 10 rebounds despite not playing in the final quarter of the season opener for the two sides.
Vince Carter added 18 points and Jameer Nelson scored 16.
The Wizards were led by reserve Cartier Martin's 17 points while first-overall draft pick John Wall scored 14 points and nine assists on his NBA debut.

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Cavaliers stun Celtics in first game without LeBron

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The Cleveland Cavaliers began the post-LeBron James era with a stunning 95-87 victory over the heavily favored Boston Celtics Wednesday.
Making the victory all the sweeter for jilted Cavaliers fans was the fact that their season-opening win came over the Celtics, something James and his new team the Miami Heat were unable to do in the NBA curtain-raiser Tuesday.
When James announced in July that he was "taking his talents to South Beach" to form a super team in Miami with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, it left Cavaliers fans crushed fearing a return to the bottom of the standings without the twice league MVP.
But for one night at least, the Cavaliers looked every bit a championship contender and the sellout crowd agreed erupting in wild celebration as the final buzzer sounded and confetti rained down from the rafters.

J.J. Hickson

"I'm very proud of my guys tonight, there were times in this game when we got down double-digits and they could have just mailed it in but they didn't," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told reporters.
"This is how we've got to play basketball. We played really hard all night long.
"We're going to enjoy this victory because it was big time for us, for us to win this game at home, to start the season off this way."
"TRUE STRENGTH"
The Cavaliers had trailed by as much as 11 points but showed their mettle in the final minutes, taking an 86-84 lead on a J.J. Hickson layup.
Hickson led the Cavaliers with a game high 21 points while Daniel Gibson provided 16 points and eight assists coming off the bench.
Ramon Sessions chipped in with 14 points while Jamario Moon, who took over James locker and his starting place in the lineup added 10.
The Celtics, arriving in Cleveland off an emotional win 24 hours earlier, appeared to run out of steam down the stretch.

newly acquired cavs ramon sessions and reserved forward jamario moon who took over lebron james starting place

"I think their true strength is playing together," said Celtics Kevin Garnett. "They don't have the one go to guy but they do play well together.
"They play hard and when you don't match that you find yourself in trouble."
Rajon Rondo had 18 points and nine assists to pace the Celtics while Paul Pierce added 13 and Garnett contributed nine points and 15 rebounds.

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LA Lakers reserves earn tense opening win

shannon brown and steve blake

aaron brooks drives past the defense 

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:28am EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers were indebted to bench players Shannon Brown and Steve Blake as they launched their NBA championship defense with a nail-biting 112-110 win over the Houston Rockets Tuesday.
Brown knocked in four three-pointers and fellow guard Blake slotted three, the last of them with just 18.8 seconds left on the clock, as the Lakers came from 15 points behind..

5th ring

The lead changed hands four times in the last minute of a gripping contest at the Staples Center before Blake's final shot effectively sealed the win.
Kobe Bryant, although not at his best after having off-season surgery on his right knee, scored 27 points for the Lakers while Spanish forward Pau Gasol added a game-high 29. Brown ended up with 16 points and Blake finished with 10.

kevin martin

Guard Kevin Martin top-scored with 26 points and Aaron Brooks contributed 24, including four of six three-pointers, for the Rockets who led throughout the second and third quarters.
Yao Ming, who missed all of last season because of a fractured bone in his left foot, contributed 11 rebounds and nine points for Houston after playing only 23 minutes.
The evening began on a high note for the Lakers when last season's team and coaching staff were presented with diamond-encrusted gold championship rings.
Veteran forward Ron Artest, who joined the team before last season, then urged the sellout crowd to look upwards as the 2009-10 NBA championship banner was unveiled in the Staples Center rafters, sparking frenzied applause.
EARLY-SEASON RUST

ron artest and pau gasol

With the ceremony over, both teams displayed early-season rust but the Rockets, helped by three three-pointers from Brooks, took advantage of poor Lakers defense to race into a 33-26 lead after the first quarter.
Los Angeles, initially struggling with their outside game, trailed by 15 when Brooks knocked in another three-pointer late in the second period before a Bryant jumper and two free throws trimmed the deficit to 62-51 by half-time.
Gasol and Bryant, finally gelling superbly on offense, sparked a rousing Lakers fightback in the third quarter which ended with guard Blake scoring two three-pointers for Houston's lead to be cut to 82-77.
Two free throws by Matt Barnes off the bench leveled the score at 86-86 early in the fourth period before a Barnes drive for a finger-roll layup put the Lakers ahead for the first time since the opening quarter.
Brown coolly knocked in a three-pointer to give the home team a 91-86 cushion before adding two more in a dizzying 21-second sequence to send the partisan crowd into a frenzy.
Leading 99-91, the Lakers inexplicably lost control at both ends of the court as the Rockets began to claw their way back to set up a thrilling finale.
Houston will visit the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, while the Lakers are next in action against the Suns in Phoenix on Friday.

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Boston Celtics beat the Heat to spoil LeBron's Miami debut

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Celtics spoiled the opening act of LeBron James's latest quest for an elusive NBA title by defeating the Miami Heat 88-80 on Tuesday in a highly anticipated showdown of Eastern Conference powerhouses.
James, the two-time MVP who signed with the Heat as a free agent in the off-season after seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, scored 31 points but had eight turnovers in the season-opener for both teams.
"We all know Rome wasn't built in one day, so it's going to take time, and we understand that," said James, who hit 10 of 21 shots but had trouble finding his rhythm from the outside.
"We have to keep on making progress every day and just continue to get better."
Boston held a comfortable 60-45 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter but James scored nine points during a 12-3 Miami run that cut the Celtics' lead to 63-57.
Miami trimmed their deficit to 68-64 but a lay-in by Glen Davis and a three-pointer by Paul Pierce hiked the lead to 73-64.
James made a driving lay-up with 1:10 left to cut the Heat's deficit to 83-80 but Ray Allen responded with a three-pointer from the corner to hike the lead to 86-80 with 49 seconds remaining and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who missed most of the preseason with a hamstring injury, had an awful game, scoring 13 points on four of 16 shots with six turnovers.
Wade admitted he was "a little bit out of rhythm, of course" and appeared undaunted the Heat's season opened with a loss.
"This is one of 82," said Wade. "Sorry if everyone thought we were going to go 82-0. It just ain't happening."

The Celtics, who shot better and played with greater energy, were led by Allen, who finished with 20 points, and Pierce, who had 19.
"It was a fun game," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "They're going to be a lot better when we see them again, and hopefully we are, as well."
James and Chris Bosh, a free agent who also signed in the off-season with Miami, joined Wade with the hope of leading the franchise to its first title since 2006.
While James played well in spots, Wade and Bosh were nothing short of awful at a raucous, sold-out Boston Garden, shooting a combined seven of 27 from the floor.

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