The reunited Big Three - and Rasheed - are one
up on the Big Two.
Paul Pierce scored 23 points, Ray Allen 16 and Kevin Garnett 13
in his first regular-season game since last March as the Boston
Celtics beat Cleveland 95-89 on Tuesday night in the NBA season
opener, spoiling the hyped debut of the Cavaliers with LeBron James
and Shaquille O'Neal.
Pierce made two crucial jumpers and two free throws in the final
1:03 to pace the Celtics, whose drive to a second straight title
was derailed when Garnett injured his knee late last season.
Rasheed Wallace, added as a free agent during the offseason, had 12
points.
James scored 38 and O'Neal added 10 points and 10 rebounds for
the Cavaliers, who won their first 23 home games last season but
are already 0-1 on their floor. Boston's road win also snapped a
16-game winning streak at home in games between the Celtics and
Cavaliers.
Because of the 14-time All-Star O'Neal's addition, the Cavaliers
have gotten the bulk of the preseason attention and are a trendy
pick to win their first NBA title.
The Celtics may have other plans.
Garnett looked fully recovered from surgery to repair his right
knee. Allen stroked a couple 3s, and Pierce was his cold-blooded
best down the stretch. After James missed a 3-pointer that would
have brought Cleveland within one, Pierce stuck a 15-footer to make
it 89-83.
Cleveland turned it over when newly acquired Anthony Parker
couldn't handle a pass from James, and Pierce made the Cavs pay
again with a second dagger from the outside.
Pierce had 11 rebounds, Garnett 10 and Rajon Rondo added 10
assists for Boston.
James was in MVP form, but this wasn't the debut the Cavs
envisioned. Their offense sputtered as coach Mike Brown feared, and
their defense didn't do a good job on the perimeter and was missing
one of its key components, guard Delonte West, who was inactive for
the game and whose future seems uncertain in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers began their quest for a title without the troubled
but valuable West, who has had a turbulent offseason dealing with
medical and personal issues. General manager Danny Ferry and a
support team helping the guard decided West was not ready to play.
West has bipolar disorder and blamed an arrest last month on
weapons charges near his home in Maryland on not staying with his
medications. As the Cavs were introduced before the game, West
leaned against a wall in the tunnel leading to Cleveland's locker
room.
The circus-like atmosphere outside the arena was more befitting
an NBA finals game in June than an October opener. Cleveland fans
have been waiting months for this night, the tip-off to a season
already unlike any in the franchise's 40-year history.
On the other side of Ontario Street, a billboard said, "It
Begins." What matters to the Cavs, though, is how it ends.
James finished with eight assists, made four 3-poiners and
delivered two spectacular chase-down blocks.
Wearing a pair of headphones with blue Yankees pinstripes and NY
logo, James, who can become a free agent after the season,
stretched out before the game in the locker room listening to Young
Jeezy's "24, 23," a song that includes lyrics about Los Angeles
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and James.
"I used to play Kobe, but now I play LeBron," James rapped
loudly while eyeing a flat-screen TV.
He wasn't singing afterward.
The Cavaliers came out intent on running the Celtics out as they
did late last season in a 31-point win at home.
Cleveland broke out to a 13-2 lead, went up 19-5 on a short
jumper by O'Neal and led 28-21 after one. The Cavs' defensive
highlight of the period - and maybe one for the season - came when
James chased down the speedy Rondo and rejected his dunk attempt.
But as happened so many times in the past, the Cavs' offense
bogged down when James went to the bench and the Celtics heated up.
Allen made two 3-pointers and scored 11 in the second quarter and
the Celtics made seven 3s while opening a 51-45 halftime lead.
James had a basket taken away when the officials reviewed a
layup in the final minute. It was the first use of the NBA's
expanded instant-replay system, which allows officials to check to
see if a shot has gotten off before the 24-second shot clock
expires.
Notes: O'Neal joked that he would miss injured Boston forward Glen
Davis. "They call him Big Baby for a reason," cracked the Big
Diesel. "Because he's my son." ... The Cavs have shown interest
in free agent G Antonio Daniels, who had his contract bought by
Minnesota during the preseason. Brown and Ferry worked with Daniels
in San Antonio. "I like him as a person," Brown said. "He's a
veteran guard with some size who has won a championship." Daniels
cleared waivers on Tuesday. ... Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger sat courtside. He and James are friends, and Big Ben
competed against O'Neal this summer on the Shaq Vs. TV series.
