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Suns pound Cavaliers, Nash scores 30

LeBron James, left, of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center on Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona. PHOTO:AP

Steve Nash scored 30 points and had 10 assists and the Phoenix Suns -- playing without Amare Stoudemire -- rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-92 on Sunday.

Stoudemire, the Suns' All-Star center, was sidelined because of soreness in his right knee. He had arthroscopic surgery on the knee Oct. 2. Coach Mike D'Antoni said Stoudemire was day to day.

Shawn Marion had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points, and Boris Diaw, who started in place of Stoudemire scored 16. Nash had 22 points in the second half.

LeBron James scored 27 points, 21 in the second half, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden each scored 22. Gooden had 14 rebounds and Ilgauskas 13.

Pistons 92, Hawks 91

At Auburn Hills in Michigan, Chauncey Billups hit a free throw with 1.7 seconds left to give Detroit a come-from-behind victory over Atlanta.

The Pistons trailed in their home opener by nine points entering the fourth, but dominated the first 11 minutes of the final period before a late Hawks rally.

Charlotte Bobcats guard Jason Richardson, right, drives the ball on Miami Heat foward Dorell Wright during the fourth quarter of the game on sunday in Miami. PHOTO:AP

Billups finished with 22 points and Richard Hamilton added 21 in his season debut. Jason Maxiell added 15 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, which overcame three starters scoring in single digits to improve to 3-0.

Johnson led the Hawks with 23 and Williams added 22.

Clippers 115, SuperSonics 101

At Los Angeles, Corey Maggette scored 27 points and Tim Thomas made three 3-pointers during a one-minute span late in the fourth quarter to lead Los Angeles over Seattle.

Thomas finished with 20 points, Cuttino Mobley added 17 points and Chris Kaman had 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who were coming off a season-opening 120-114 win against Golden State on Friday night.

Kevin Durant scored 24 points to lead Seattle, which is 0-3 for the first time since 1985-86. Durant is averaging 23 points and 36.3 minutes.

Bobcats 90, Heat 88

At Miami, Jason Richardson scored 29 points and Charlotte wasted a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before rallying to beat Miami.

Raymond Felton added 19 for Charlotte, which is two games over .500 -- 2-0 -- for the first time in its four-year history. The Bobcats won despite shooting 1-for-12 with six turnovers in the final 10-plus minutes.

Udonis Haslem scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for Miami. Shaquille O'Neal scored 17 points for the Heat (0-3), avoiding what would have been the first occurrence of three consecutive single-digit scoring efforts in his career.

Emeka Okafor finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte, while Gerald Wallace scored 13.

Ricky Davis scored 12 and Dorell Wright finished with 11 for Miami.

Hornets 93, Nuggets 88

At Denver, David West overcame a slow start to score 17 points and help New Orleans remain undefeated. West missed his first eight shots before settling in. He made two crucial baskets in the fourth quarter to help quash the Nuggets' comeback as the Hornets improved to 3-0 and handed Denver its first loss.

Chris Paul had 15 points, 11 assists and eight boards for New Orleans.

Allen Iverson scored 23 points for Denver and Carmelo Anthony added 20, but they were a combined 16-for-49 from the field. Marcus Camby pulled down 21 rebounds for the second straight game for the Nuggets (2-1), who haven't started a season with three straight wins since 1985-86.

Knicks 97, Timberwolves 93

At New York, Jamal Crawford scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and New York won its home opener for the first time in six years.

Zach Randolph added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who had lost five straight home openers since beating Washington on Oct. 30, 2001. Stephon Marbury added 17 points and seven assists, and David Lee scored 14 points.

Ryan Gomes scored 19 points for the Timberwolves, who fell to 0-2 in their first season since trading longtime star Kevin Garnett to Boston over the summer.

The Wolves had won four in a row and 10 of 12 against New York.

Al Jefferson, also acquired in the Garnett deal, added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Celtics 98, Raptors 95, OT

At Toronto, Ray Allen made the winning 3-pointer with less than 3 seconds to play, finished with 33 points and Boston won without coach Doc Rivers at the helm.

Kevin Garnett scored 10 of his 23 points in overtime and added 13 rebounds, giving him double-doubles in both of his games for Boston this season.

Paul Pierce added 13 points for Boston (2-0), and James Posey had 11. T.J. Ford led Toronto (2-1) with 32 points, and Chris Bosh had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Celtics played without Rivers, who left Toronto early on Sunday after his father died in Chicago. Assistant Tom Thibodeau took over for Rivers.

Lakers 119, Jazz 109

At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored six of his 33 points in the final four-and-a-half minutes after blocking an attempted dunk by Andrei Kirilenko as the Lakers beat Utah.

Bryant was 13-for-19 from the field and fellow guard Derek Fisher added 19 points, including a career-high 13 free throws. Andrew Bynum had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench before fouling out with 55 seconds to play.
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