The Boston Celtics raised their National Basketball Association championship banner in a stirring pre-game ceremony, then sealed a stirring season-opening victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who fell to the Celtics in the NBA Finals last season and are tipped to battle again for the title, launched their season with a resounding 96-76 victory over Portland, while in Chicago the Bulls made it a triumphant debut for new coach Vinny Del Negro and top draft pick Derrick Rose with a 108-95 victory over Milwaukee on the opening night of the season.
In Boston, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Paul Pierce fought back tears as he thanked fans for their support during the Celtics’ run to the title last season.
Then he got down to business and scored 27 points in the Celtics 90-85 victory over the Cavaliers.
“We just kind of settled in,” Pierce said. “I think that really sums it up. We didn’t really play well in the first half defensively and we are a defensive team. After halftime, emotions got out of the way and we started to play our brand of basketball. It’s going to be a process like we said last year. We’re going to get better.”
Leon Powe punctuated the win with a thunderous dunk, finishing with 13 points.
Rajon Rondo scored 14 points for the Celtics, who raised the club’s 17th championship banner and received their championship rings prior to the game.
LeBron James made one of two free throws to cut his team’s deficit to two with 10 seconds left, but the Celtics managed to avoid getting fouled in the backcourt on the ensuing possession.
Pierce quickly threw the ball ahead to Powe, who absorbed the contact and slammed it over Anderson Varejao to make it 88-84 with 5.3 seconds left.
Powe missed the ensuing free throw, but Boston was able to hold on for the win.
James collected 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists but missed four free throws in the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers, who also suffered a loss to the Celtics in the deciding game seven of the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season.
“There’s some things that we could change, but all in all, we played well,” James said.
Boston coach Doc Rivers admitted he was happy to have the hoopla and the game out of the way.
“I’ve heard so many horror stories about this night,” Rivers said, noting the then-champion Miami Heat’s embarrassing 108-66 home-court loss to Chicago in their 2006 season-opener.
“I think I heard that 30 times over the last two days ... so I’m glad that didn’t happen,” Rivers said.
Chicago’s highly touted rookie Rose also admitted he was happy to get a win on the board.
“I was worried about getting a victory,” said Rose, who had 11 points and nine assists. “The most important thing is that the first win is out of the way. Now, we can worry about playing the Celtics on Friday.”
Luol Deng led six players in double figures with 21 points and Tyrus Thomas added 15 and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who shot 51 percent from the field.
The win for the Bulls came over Del Negro’s predecessor, Scott Skiles, who was fired 25 games into last season before being replaced on an interim basis by Jim Boylan.
Skiles made his debut at the helm in Milwaukee, a franchise that has not posted a winning season in six years.
Milwaukee veteran Michael Redd was impressed by Rose, who was the first overall pick in the NBA draft after leading the Memphis Tigers to a runner-up finish in his lone season of US college basketball.
“He looked a little shaky at the start of the game,” Redd said of Rose. “Then he seemed to shake it off. He will be a very good player in this league; he has an enormous amount of talent.”
LAKERS 96, TRAIL BLAZERS 76
In Los Angeles, league MVP Kobe Bryant scored 23 points to lead the Lakers to victory over the Trail Blazers.
Bryant picked up right where he left off last season, the 30-year-old guard making nine of 17 shots from the field and adding 11 rebounds and five assists.
Pau Gasol had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Lakers, who held Portland to 34 percent shooting and never trailed.
Travis Outlaw led the Blazers with 18 points, while rookie Rudy Fernandez, who gained notoriety for his performance with Spain during the Beijing Olympics, scored 16 points in his NBA debut.
Portland’s Greg Oden made his delayed debut after missing all of last season recovering from a right knee injury.
It was a disappointingly brief night for Oden, however, as he left the game in the third quarter with a sprained right foot.
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