James, Cavaliers win at Dallas; Celtics win
DALLAS -- LeBron James had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers avenge a lopsided loss to Dallas in the season opener by beating the Mavericks 88-81 on Thursday night.
Despite the presence of James and reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki and this being a matchup of the last two NBA runners-up -- enough sizzle to draw a national cable audience -- the game was pretty brutal to watch.
Through three quarters, Cleveland shot only 36 percent, was 0-for-10 on 3-pointers and had missed 10 free throws -- yet led by 6 points.
The Mavericks got within 1 point early in the fourth quarter and made it 81-79 with 4:43 left and James already with 5 fouls. But a bunch of missed 3s by Dallas followed, then James pretty much ended it with a thunderous dunk in the lane with 1:10 to go.
Nowitzki had 19 points and 20 rebounds, his most in a regular-season game since April 2003. Josh Howard had 19 points, too, but no other starter cracked double digits. The Mavs shot 36.5 percent, hurt by Jason Terry going 3-for-12 one night after going 0-for-10.
Cleveland won its second straight, snapping out of a win-lose cycle its previous six games.
Dallas lost its second straight after winning five in a row. The Mavs fell to 6-6 against the Eastern Conference and have lost 11 games overall, after dropping only 15 last season.
Celtics 104, Sonics 96: While most of the attention focused on Ray Allen's return to Seattle, it was Paul Pierce who took over for Boston. Pierce scored 26 of his season-high 37 points in the second half as the Celtics held off the pesky SuperSonics. Pierce hit 11 of 27 shots and 10 of 11 free throws. Kevin Garnett scored 14 of his 23 points in the first half, and Allen added a mostly quiet 10.
Suns 108, Clippers 88: Amare Stoudemire had 30 points and 15 rebounds and played stifling defense against Chris Kaman to lead visiting Phoenix over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Stoudemire scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds in the first half as Phoenix opened a 59-40 lead, and the rout was on.
Kaman, held to 2 points on 1-of-11 shooting in the first half, scored 7 in the second half and finished with 9 rebounds to end his streak of 12 consecutive double-doubles. He went 4 of 17 from the field.