Waiters serves up 17 as Cavs drop Wizards
CLEVELAND - Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, Anderson Varejao had a career-high 23 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers opened the season with a 94-84 victory over the shorthanded Washington Wizards on Tuesday night in the first game on the NBA schedule.
CLEVELAND - Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, Anderson Varejao had a career-high 23 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers opened the season with a 94-84 victory over the shorthanded Washington Wizards on Tuesday night in the first game on the NBA schedule.
South Philly native Dion Waiters added 17 points for the Cavs in his NBA debut. Cleveland led by 16 in the third quarter but needed big plays from Irving and Varejao in the final minutes to hold off the Wizards, who scored the first 14 points of the fourth.
The Wizards were without star point guard John Wall, power forward Nene, and forward Kevin Seraphin. Wall, the former No. 1 overall pick, is expected to be out until late November with a knee injury.
Heat 120, Celtics 107
MIAMI - Dwyane Wade scored 29 points and LeBron James had 26 points and 10 rebounds as Miami opened the season with a victory over Boston in a rematch of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals.
Chris Bosh and former Celtic Ray Allen scored 19 points each for the Heat. Paul Pierce scored 23 points to lead the Celtics.
The Heat were presented with their championship rings in a ceremony shortly before the game. NBA commissioner David Stern gave Heat owner Micky Arison the first ring, and Arison issued the rest.
Stoudemire surgery. Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire could be sidelined for two months. He'll have left knee surgery and could be out six to eight weeks, more than twice as long as originally estimated when he was hurt during the preseason. The team said he will have a debridement, a procedure to remove tissue.
Wednesday's Knicks game in Brooklyn could be in jeopardy as New York recovers from damage to the subway system caused by Hurricane Sandy. The NBA said it was still evaluating games for later this week.
Nuggets for Lawson. The Denver Nuggets agreed with point guard Ty Lawson on a four-year, $48 million contract extension. He averaged career highs of 16.4 points and 6.6 assists in 61 games last season. Denver opens against the 76ers Wednesday.
- Associated Press
