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NBA: Garnett leads Celtics

Forward Kevin Garnett, right, came up big in his Celtics debut with 22 points, 20 rebounds and five assists. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Forward Kevin Garnett, right, came up big in his Celtics debut with 22 points, 20 rebounds and five assists. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Kevin Garnett’s dazzling debut with the Celtics gave their fans and long-suffering Paul Pierce plenty to celebrate.

Garnett had 22 points, 20 rebounds and five assists, Pierce scored 28 points and sparked Boston’s take-charge rally in the first half, and the Celtics opened their promising season with a 103-83 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night at Boston.

Add 17 points from Ray Allen, another veteran newcomer who came from Seattle, and the Celtics looked nothing like the teams Pierce played for in his first nine seasons with Boston.

Those teams won just three playoff series.

Cavaliers 110, Knicks 106: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 45 points and Daniel Gibson made four 3-pointers in just more than 2 minutes in the fourth quarter to rally the Cavaliers past New York.

Pistons 116, Magic 92: At Orlando, Fla., Chauncey Billups had 18 points and seven assists to lead Detroit to a second straight victory without Richard Hamilton.

Pacers 87, Heat 85: At Indianapolis, Danny Granger was 10 of 13 from the field and had 25 points and nine rebounds to help Indiana beat Miami.

“Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been cleared to play after recovering from the left knee and left shoulder surgeries he had in May.

Bobcats 102, Bucks 99: At Charlotte, N.C., Raymond Felton had 26 points and 12 assists, and hit two free throws with 0.1 seconds left to preserve the Bobcats’ win over Milwaukee.

Raptors 106, Nets 69: At East Rutherford, N.J., Andrea Bargnani scored 21 points to lead Toronto to a victory over New Jersey in the first meeting between the teams since the Nets ousted the Raptors in the opening round of last season’s playoffs.

Hawks 101, Mavericks 94: At Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 28 points and the Hawks beat Dallas in their season opener.

Hornets 113, Trail Blazers 93: At New Orleans, Chris Paul scored 19 points and Peja Stojakovic added 18 as the sharp-shooting Hornets beat Portland.

Nuggets 99, Timberwolves 91: At Minneapolis, Minnesota outplayed Denver for most of the night, but couldn’t come up with the big shots down the stretch and Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points to rally the Nuggets to a victory.

Spurs 96, Kings 80: At San Antonio, Tim Duncan – on the day he signed his big contract extension with a reported value of $40 million – and Tony Parker scored 15 points apiece, and the Spurs beat Sacramento to remain unbeaten.

76ers 96, Bulls 85: At Chicago, Andre Miller scored 25 points, Andre Iguodala added 11 of his 22 in the fourth quarter, and Philadelphia hung on to beat the Bulls.

Lakers 119, Suns 98: At Phoenix, Vladimir Radmanovic made all four of his 3-pointers and scored 19 points, and Kobe Bryant added 16 points and 11 rebounds, leading Los Angeles to a rout of Phoenix in the Suns’ home opener.

Clippers 120, Warriors 114: At Los Angeles, Chris Kaman had 26 points and 18 rebounds, Cuttino Mobley hit a pair of fadeaway jumpers in the final 76 seconds, and the Clippers opened their season with a victory over Golden State.