The NBA held a manic pace for the kick off of the much talked about – and much delayed – 2011 season. Christmas day was full of both surprises and business as usual on the court as the NBA’s first day made up for lost time.
After his highly publicized trade woes, Chris Paul helped lead his new team to victory with 20 points and nine assists – while teammate Blake Griffin added 22 points and seven rebounds – as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 105-86 on Sunday night to spoil Mark Jackson’s opener as a first-time coach.
Monta Ellis had 15 points and eight assists after his grandmother’s death earlier in the day in Mississippi, and David Lee added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who cut the Clippers’ lead to a point at 78-77 with 9:35 left on Brandon Rush’s 3-pointer before Los Angeles pulled away.
Derrick Rose drove the lane and lofted home a smooth floating shot for the winning points in the Chicago Bulls’ opener, just in case anybody doubted the youngest MVP in NBA history can shoulder the expectations that come bundled with that shiny new trophy and a huge contract extension.
Rose scored 22 points and hit a short go-ahead shot with 4.8 seconds to play, and the Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:44 for an 88-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Luol Deng, scored 21 points and stole Bryant’s pass with 16.9 seconds left to set up Rose’s winner before finally blocking Bryant’s short shot right before the buzzer.
The Oklahoma City Thunder came into the new season with lofty goals. They looked very much like a contender in their opener.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points to help the Thunder win their opener with a 97-89 victory Sunday night over Orlando, a team that has been dealing with Dwight Howard’s trade demands since training camp opened.
While Durant shined, Howard struggled, held to just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Carmelo Athony scored 37 points, including a pair of free throws with the game tied and 16 econds left, and New York survived a seesaw season opener Sunday to edge the Celtics 106-104.
Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas had 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling Christmas victory in the delayed opener to the 2011-12 season.
Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were a tag team against the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. The two led a series of scoring waves that put Miami ahead by 35 points midway through the third quarter, the lead peaking when James soared to the rim and tipped an alley-oop pass to Wade so he could have the dunk instead. The game was essentially over then, although the Mavs reserves fueled a late rally that made the final score look close, 105-94.
James finished with 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Wade had 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Miami scored at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters.
Information from Espn.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.