Playing on a sore foot, Wade finished with 19 points, while
James had 34 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds on his 27th birthday.
Ricky Rubio had 12 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, and
Kevin Love had 25 points and 12 boards for the Timberwolves, who led 100-99
with 55 seconds to play.
But Wade hit a jumper and then lost Rubio on an inbounds
play to make the winning bucket, one game after beating the Charlotte Bobcats
with a last-second shot.
In Los Angeles, Derrick Rose had 29
points and 16 assists, and Chicago pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat
Los Angeles.
Luol Deng and Joakim Noah added 19 points apiece and Richard
Hamilton had 16 for the Bulls against their former coach, Vinny Del Negro.
Blake Griffin had 34 points and 13 rebounds for the
Clippers, who kept it close most of the way coming off a 25-point loss at San
Antonio. Caron Butler added 16 points and Chris Paul had 15 points and 14
assists in his matchup against Rose, the NBA’s MVP last season.
In Boston, Jermaine O’Neal scored 19
points as he and Boston ended a dismal start to their season by beating Detroit
in their home opener.
O’Neal, who played passively in totaling just eight points
in the first three games, all losses, was aggressive throughout. He had 10
points in the first half, which ended with Boston on top 50-43. Then he scored
seven in the third quarter when the Celtics outscored the Pistons 36-21 to take
an 86-64 lead.
Ray Allen and Brandon Bass added 17 points apiece for Boston
and Paul Pierce had 12 in his debut after being sidelined with a bruised right
heel. O’Neal, injured much of last season, his first with the Celtics, had seven
rebounds.
Greg Monroe had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Austin Daye
scored 11 for Detroit, which fell to 0-3.
In Dallas, Reserve center Ian
Mahinmi scored a career-high 19 points, Dirk Nowitzki contributed 18, and
reigning NBA champion Dallas rallied for its first victory of the season.
Jason Terry added 10 of his 17 points in the final quarter
for the Mavericks (1-3), who hadn’t started 0-4 since the 2006-07 season.
The last defending NBA champs to open a season at 0-4 were the
1969-70 Boston Celtics.
Andrea Bargnani scored 30 points and Leandro Barbosa had 20
for the Raptors, 1-2 under first-year coach Dwane Casey, Dallas’ top assistant
and defensive architect last season.
In Memphis, Zach Randolph scored
23 points, Marc Gasol added 20, and Memphis earned its first victory of the
season.
Randolph shot 11 of 14 and grabbed nine rebounds. Gasol and
Rudy Gay, who finished with 10 points, each had eight boards as Memphis
outrebounded the Rockets 42-33.
Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 21 points, while Kyle
Lowry had 15 points and eight assists. Rookie Chandler Parsons scored 13
points, including a trio of 3-pointers, all in the fourth quarter.
Memphis shot 56 percent and forced 20 Houston turnovers.
In New Orleans, Hakim Warrick scored 18
points in a reserve role, and Phoenix won for the first time this young season
while handing New Orleans Hornets its first loss.
Channing Frye added 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns,
who had opened the season with two losses, one to New Orleans in their home
opener Monday night. Jared Dudley added 16 points, while Steve Nash dished out
12 assists.
Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon missed a second straight
game with a bruised right knee, and this time New Orleans could not compensate
for the prolific scorer’s absence.
Carl Landry led New Orleans with 17 points, while Emeka
Okafor had 10 points and 16 rebounds, but the Hornets shot only 29 percent (26
of 90).
In Indianapolis, Danny Granger
scored nine of his 22 points in overtime to help Indiana beat Cleveland.
Roy Hibbert had 17 points and 13 rebounds, David West had 14
points and 10 rebounds, and Tyler Hansbrough added 11 points and 12 boards for
Indiana. George Hill scored 15 points for the Pacers, who improved to 3-0.
Rookie guard Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 20 points in
his best game so far, but missed a layup that would have won the game at the
end of regulation.
Anderson Varejao added 14 points and 13 rebounds, and
Anthony Parker and Antawn Jamison each scored 12 points for the Cavaliers.
In Charlotte, Dwight Howard had 20
points and 24 rebounds, Ryan Anderson scored 23 points, and Orlando beat Charlotte
for its third straight victory.
Orlando jumped to an 11-0 lead and never trailed, eventually
leading 56-43 at halftime and building the lead up to as many as 21 in the
second half. Charlotte never got closer than nine points in the second half.
Anderson was 5 of 12 from 3-point range, as the Magic shot
43 percent from beyond the arc. Howard also had four blocked shots and four
assists. The Magic also got 16 points from Jason Richardson, 15 from Hedo
Turkoglu and 11 from J.J. Redick.
Corey Maggette led Charlotte (1-2) with 20 points.
In Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings scored
15 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Milwaukee over winless
Washington.
Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed
the first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15 off the
bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three
blocks.
Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after
scoring one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with
24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four turnovers.
Washington also got a technical foul when Roger Mason Jr.,
who was not on the active list, checked into the game.
In Salt Lake City, Derrick Favors scored
a career-high 20 points and added 11 rebounds in his first start for Utah, and
the Jazz avoided their first 0-3 start in 32 years.
Paul Millsap added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz,
who have beaten the 76ers seven straight times at home and in 21 of the last 23
meetings in Salt Lake City.
Favors started at center for Utah in place of Al Jefferson,
who did not play because of an inflamed right ankle.
Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 22 points for the Sixers
and reserve Lou Williams added 20 but missed what would have been a game-tying
3-pointer at the buzzer.
In Atlanta, Jeff Teague scored 22
points, Joe Johnson added 21 and Atlanta won its third straight game to open
the season, beating New Jersey.
Deron Williams finished with 23 points and rookie MarShon
Brooks added 21 to lead the Nets, who have dropped three straight and fell to
1-3.
The Hawks, who earned a 36-point victory at New Jersey
earlier this week, were in a tight game for the first time this season. Their
biggest lead was nine early in the fourth quarter before Brooks’ 17-footer made
it 95-94 with 2:18 remaining.
