Celtics get rings, beat Cavaliers in season opener
Banner No. 17 is up in the rafters, and win No. 1 is in the books.
NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce scored 27 points as the defending champion Boston Celtics followed an emotional ring ceremony and banner raising with a 90-85 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. LeBron James scored 22, but he missed a driving layup with 41 seconds left and two free throws in the last 11 seconds for Cleveland.
•Lakers roll; Oden injured: Kobe Bryant had a double-double – 23 points, 11 rebounds – and Pau Gasol added 15 points to power the Los Angeles Lakers to a 96-76 win over visiting Portland, spoiling the debut of the Trail Blazers’ Greg Oden.
Oden, who missed all of his rookie season last year with an injury, was held scoreless before leaving with a foot injury late in the first half. The severity of the injury was not immediately known.
NHL
Flyers rout Thrashers
Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul each scored two goals and the visiting Philadelphia Flyers earned their 11th straight win over the Atlanta Thrashers, 7-0.
•Canadiens win shootout: Saku Koivu scored a shootout goal and Carey Price stopped all three shots in the tiebreaker to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.
Football
New York Jets thrilled
Sold! For $16 million, 620 personal seat licenses for choice spots in the New York Jets’ new stadium.
Team executives celebrated as they announced the results of an unprecedented online PSL auction, though more than two-thirds of the seats originally up for bid went unpurchased.
Bidding ended Monday night as the team initially auctioned 2,000 PSLs for the exclusive Coaches Club – located near the 50-yard line and behind the Jets’ bench – on the ticketing Web site StubHub. It was the first time a U.S. sports team auctioned off PSLs online.
•Smith, Woodson, Sharpe among candidates: Defensive end Bruce Smith, defensive back Rod Woodson and tight end Shannon Sharpe are among first-year candidates for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
The list includes 110 players, seven coaches and 16 contributors. Selectors will choose 25 candidates who will be announced later this month as semifinalists.
•Suspension indefinite: Boise State sophomore wide receiver Titus Young’s suspension has been changed to indefinite, coach Chris Petersen said.
Young originally was suspended for “at least” three games, through Friday night’s game at San Jose State. He was suspended for violating team rules.
•FCS mulls change: The committee that manages the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs has endorsed a plan to move the FCS title game to early January when the playoff field expands from 16 to 20 teams next season.
The NCAA Board of Directors is scheduled to vote on the proposal later this week in Indianapolis.
Baseball
Angels exercise options
The Los Angeles Angels will exercise their 2009 options on outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and pitcher John Lackey, but will decline their option on outfielder Garret Anderson.
Guerrero will earn $15 million next year. He had a $3 million buyout. Lackey will earn $9 million in 2009. He had a $500,000 buyout.
Anderson, whose option price was $14 million, will receive a $3 million buyout.
Miscellany
Federer will play
Roger Federer ended speculation over his Davis Cup plans and announced he will play for Switzerland against the United States next March.
•Lawsuit settled: Texas A&M University agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a lawsuit over the collapse of a bonfire tower that killed 12 people and injured dozens in 1999.
•WADA satisfied: The World Anti-Doping Agency said it has received the results of the 300 drug tests from the Beijing Olympics it had previously reported as missing. All 300 tests were negative.