Ron Artest had 16 points, three rebounds and five assists in his return to the NBA, and the Indiana Pacers began life without Reggie Miller with a 90-78 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Artest was suspended for most of last season after brawling with Detroit fans. He started 1-of-7 from the field against Orlando, but he shook off the rust in the second half and led the Pacers to victory with several big plays and strong defense. He finished 4-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
He converted a three-point play and made two 3-pointers -- all in a 2-minute span late in the third quarter -- that helped Indiana build an 11-point lead.
Jermaine O'Neal scored 19 points, Austin Croshere added 16 and the Pacers were 7-of-19 from behind the 3-point line.
Steve Francis led the Magic with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists -- maybe playing as unselfishly as ever.
Cavaliers 109, Hornets 87
At Cleveland, All-Star forward LeBron James, playing his first regular-season game with new teammates brought in to help get him to the playoffs, made six 3-pointers and scored 31 points as the Cavaliers beat New Orleans to help rookie coach Mike Brown win his debut.
James made five straight 3-pointers -- four in a row during a 1:44 span over Hornets forward Bostjan Nachbar -- and scored 24 points in the first half as the Cavs built a 21-point lead and buzzed the Hornets, who won their opener on Tuesday over Sacramento.
Speedy Claxton led the Hornets with 16 points, J.R. Smith added 15 and rookie Chris Paul had 13.
Wizards 99, Raptors 96
At Toronto, Antawn Jamison had 29 points and Washington held off the Raptors.
Gilbert Arenas added 21 points for the Wizards, who escaped with the victory.
Jalen Rose had 20 points for the Raptors, but just two in the fourth quarter as he missed a number of shots down the stretch.
Down by three with 12.7 seconds left, Toronto rookie Charlie Villanueva threw up an airball on a 3-point attempt and Rose's 3-pointer clanked off the front of the rim.
Bucks 110, Nets 96
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Michael Redd scored 41 points and Maurice Williams added 23 off the bench to lead Milwaukee past New Jersey. Redd, who topped 30 points for the second straight game, scored 33 of his points in the second half. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Bucks.
T.J. Ford added 21 for the Milwaukee. Vince Carter led New Jersey with 25 points.
Timberwolves 90, Trail Blazers 86
At Minneapolis, Dwane Casey's first head coaching victory came at the expense of an old friend.
Kevin Garnett had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Richie Frahm hit his first five 3-pointers to lead the Timberwolves over Portland and new coach Nate McMillan, who either coached with or played for Casey in Seattle for the past 11 years.
Darius Miles had 32 points and 11 rebounds and Zach Randolph added 18 and 13 boards, but the Blazers couldn't finish off a fourth-quarter comeback in McMillan's first game after coming over from Seattle in the offseason.
Pistons 108, 76ers 88
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Richard Hamilton scored 37 points to lead Detroit past Philadelphia in a game that looked a lot like their first-round playoff series six months ago.
Philadelphia's Allen Iverson scored 31 points, but he didn't have much help -- much like in Detroit's 4-1 series victory en route to its second straight trip to the NBA Finals.
Chris Webber had 16 points, but he was scoreless in the third quarter, and the other three starters failed to score more than eight.
Heat 97, Grizzlies 78
At Memphis, Tennessee, Antoine Walker scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade added 23 points as Miami defeated the Grizzlies.
Walker shot 10-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range in Miami's season opener.
Shaquille O'Neal scored 12 points, and Jason Williams, playing his first game as the Heat point guard after four seasons in Memphis, finished with 10.
Despite holding O'Neal to four points in the first half, Memphis lost its fifth consecutive season opener, all at home.
Celtics 114, Knicks 100, OT
At Boston, Ricky Davis scored nine of his 27 points in overtime, when Boston went on a 9-0 run to beat New York and spoil Larry Brown's debut as Knicks coach.
Paul Pierce had 30 points and 12 rebounds, and Delonte West had 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the defending Atlantic Division champions. Stephon Marbury scored 22 and Eddy Curry had 19 points and eight rebounds in his first game since learning of a heart problem that led to his trade to New York.
Rockets 98, Kings 89
At Houston, Jon Barry scored 24 points, outscoring Houston All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, to lead the Rockets to a win over Sacramento.
McGrady had 23 points after sitting out Houston's last two preseason games with tendinitis in both knees and Yao added 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bonzi Wells had 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds and Brad Miller added 21 for Sacramento.
Bulls 109, Bobcats 105
At Chicago, Chris Duhon had the first triple double of his career, and Chicago rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat Charlotte.
Duhon finished with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the season opener for both teams.
Tyson Chandler scored 11 points, including two shots in overtime that gave the Bulls a four-point lead, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Darius Songaila hit a 3-pointer that tied it in the final seconds of regulation and finished with 11 points.
The Bobcats led by 25 in the third quarter and were ahead 89-68 going into the fourth only to see it disappear.
Gerald Wallace matched his career-high with 28 points to lead Charlotte.
Other games
At Salt Lake City, Utah beat Dallas 93-82, while the Lakers beat the Nuggets 99-97 with the game going into overtime at Denver. The Clippers beat the SuperSonics 101-93 at Seattle.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB