LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat drives to the basket with forward Thaddeus Young #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers defending on October 30. Source: AFP
Spencer Hawes scored 24 points and hit the winning basket to lead the Philadelphia 76ers past the Miami Heat 114-110 Wednesday.
The Sixers were strong from the opening tip, making their first 11 shots and racing to a 26-4 lead against the reigning NBA champions, who had opened the season with a win ove rate Chicago Bulls the previous night.
The Heat erased the deficit in the third quarter and appeared to take control behind LeBron James.
Hawes hit a 3-pointer, then a driving layup for a 109-108 lead with 2:01 left.
James blew two straight chances to put Miami up, losing the ball on a drive down the middle, then missing a 6-footer on the next possession.
Shane Battier missed his seventh straight 3-point attempt, and the Sixers put the game away from the free-throw line.
Michael Carter-Williams had 22 points, 12 assists and set an NBA first-game record with nine steals for the Sixers. Evan Turner scored 26.
LeBron James had 25 points and 13 assists and Chris Bosh scored 22 for Miami.
ROCKETS 96, BOBCATS 83
HOUSTON (AP) - Dwight Howard had 17 points and a career-high-equalling 26 rebounds in his Houston debut as the Rockets cruised past Charlotte.
Howard spurned the Lakers to sign an $88 million deal with Houston, joining James Harden and a team that made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009.
The Rockets led by four points in the fourth quarter before using a 14-4 run to extend the lead to 86-72 with about 3{ minutes left.
Harden tossed an alley-oop to Howard for a dunk during that span. The crowd roared as Howard pointed and smiled at his new teammate.
Another dunk by Howard, this one a two-handed slam, capped the spurt.
The Bobcats were led by Josh McRoberts, who had 15 points.
CAVALIERS 98, NETS 94
CLEVELAND (AP) - Anderson Varejao scored with 28 seconds left - off an assist from Kyrie Irving - to send Cleveland over remodelled Brooklyn in coach Mike Brown's first game back with the Cavaliers.
Varejao's jumper gave the Cavs a 93-91 lead, and Irving, who finished with 15 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, made four free throws in the final 14 seconds to help Cleveland put it away.
Brook Lopez scored 21 and Paul Pierce scored 17 in his first game for the Nets, who were without coach Jason Kidd. He's serving a two-game suspension for a driving-under-the-influence conviction. Kevin Garnett, another of Brooklyn's new pieces, had 10 rebounds.
Tristan Thompson led the Cavs with 18 points. Cleveland centre Andrew Bynum, who missed all of last season for Philadelphia with knee problems, played in his first game in 17 months.
RAPTORS 93, CELTICS 87
TORONTO (AP) - Rudy Gay had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Amir Johnson and DeMar DeRozan each scored 13 as Toronto beat Boston to end a three-game losing streak in home openers.
Jeff Green had 25 points, Brandon Bass had 17 and Vitor Faverani 13 for the Celtics, who were beaten in new coach Brad Stevens' NBA debut.
Jonas Valanciunas had eight points and 11 rebounds and Tyler Hansbrough had 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who won for just the sixth time in 26 meetings with Boston.
Kyle Lowry had 11 points and eight assists as Toronto improved to 10-9 in season-opening games.
Kris Humphries had eight points and nine rebounds for the Celtics.
KNICKS 90, BUCKS 83
NEW YORK (AP) - Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Knicks held off Milwaukee in their season-opener after blowing a 25-point lead.
Seemingly coasting to a second straight opening-night blowout, the Knicks instead were behind with less than 3 minutes remaining before Tyson Chandler's follow dunk and two straight baskets by Anthony put them back in front by five.
Chandler added another basket in the Knicks' 10-2 run to close out their sixth straight victory over the Bucks.
Raymond Felton added 18 points and Iman Shumpert had 16 for the Knicks, who shot 51 per cent but committed 22 turnovers.
Gary Neal scored 16 points and fellow newcomer Caron Butler had 14 for the Bucks, who opened on the road for the 29th consecutive year.
PISTONS 113, WIZARDS 102
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AP) - Greg Monroe had 24 points and 16 rebounds, and new-look Detroit won its season opener in convincing fashion over Washington.
Andre Drummond added 12 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, which is hoping to snap a streak of four straight seasons without reaching the playoffs. The Pistons signed Josh Smith and Chauncey Billups in the off-season and added Brandon Jennings in a trade. Jennings did not play Wednesday - he's been bothered by a wisdom tooth.
Trevor Ariza scored 28 points for the Wizards, who were outscored 56-28 in the paint.
Smith had 19 points for Detroit. Washington's John Wall had 20 points and 11 assists, but went 8 of 21 from the field.
AP-WF-10-31-13 0317 GMT
31 Oct, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/sport/basketball/philadelphia-76ers-defeat-the-miami-heat-114110/story-fndkzqrr-1226750570103?from=public_rss
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