Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 34 points and matched a career best with 12 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons used a big second-half run to beat the Miami Heat 91-80 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Chauncey Billups added 19 points and 11 assists for the Pistons, who used a 12-0 run over a six minute stretch midway through the second half to take control. Rasheed Wallace scored 11 points for Detroit.
Ricky Davis scored 23 points for Miami, which dropped its opener for the second straight season. Sure, this one was closer than last year's 108-66 ring-night debacle against the Chicago Bulls, but that will offer little consolation.
Shaquille O'Neal didn't score in the first half and finished with nine points for Miami, getting only six shots from the floor.
Rockets 106, Jazz 95
At Salt Lake City, Tracy McGrady scored 47 points and Houston got a little revenge for last season's opening-round playoff loss by beating Utah.
Mike James added 15 points -- two more than the Jazz reserves combined -- and Chuck Hayes had 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who improved to 2-0 under new coach Rick Adelman and have yet to play a home game this season.
Carlos Boozer had 30 points and 16 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur finished with 16 points and 10 boards, but after dominating the first quarter the Jazz tapered off in the second and never recovered.
Deron Williams had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Ronnie Brewer scored 13 points for the Jazz, who led by 12 in the first quarter before McGrady took over the game.
Suns 106, SuperSonics 99
At Seattle, Amare Stoudemire, playing for the third time since knee surgery a month ago, had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Phoenix rallied past Kevin Durant and the Sonics in the home opener of the Supersonics' 41st and probably most awkward season in Seattle.
Steve Nash had 18 points, including the clinching three-pointer, and 12 assists, while veteran Grant Hill added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in his Suns debut. Phoenix won for just the second time in nine season openers.
Durant, the second overall draft pick, scored 27 points on 11-for-23 shooting. Chris Wilcox had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Seattle, which blew a nine-point lead it had late in the third quarter one night after getting blown out late in its opener at Denver.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
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