Brown Era Opens With a Thud for the Knicks

On opening night of the Larry Brown era, the New York Knicks had their moments, but the Celtics had more of them Wednesday night in winning, 114-100, in overtime at Boston.

Perhaps the biggest came when Delonte West touch-passed a loose ball to Ricky Davis for an open three-point basket during a 9-0 overtime run that broke the game open.

Davis scored nine of his 27 points in overtime, and Paul Pierce made 18 of a career-high 24 free throws en route to 30 points and 12 rebounds. West had 14 points to go with his career highs of nine rebounds, nine assists and four blocked shots.

Stephon Marbury scored 22, and Eddy Curry had 19 points and eight rebounds in his first game since learning of a heart problem that led to his trade from Chicago to New York. Antonio Davis sank a short fadeaway jumper with 2.6 seconds left in regulation to tie it, 94-94.

“We did a lot of good things in terms of fighting back,” said Brown, who joined New York in the off-season after a rancorous contract buyout in Detroit. “In overtime, [the Celtics] made every hustle play. I think we got discouraged a little bit.”

“They outrebounded [57 to 41] us and shot more free throws [47 to 33]. We had a chance, but you’re not going to win games that way. We’ll get better.”

Cleveland 109, New Orleans 87 -- LeBron James made six three-pointers, including four in a row during a 1:44 span, and scored 31 points as the new-look Cavaliers won at Cleveland.

James, who missed one three-point attempt, had 24 points in the first half as the Cavaliers built a 21-point lead and were not threatened in winning in rookie Coach Mike Brown’s debut.

The Cavaliers, whose collapse down the stretch cost them a playoff spot last season, spent $150 million in free agency this summer, signing Larry Hughes (10 points and six assists), Donyell Marshall (18 points and nine rebounds), Damon Jones (12 points) and re-signing center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (12 points and seven rebounds).

J.R. Smith led the Hornets with 15 points.

Milwaukee 110, New Jersey 96 -- Michael Redd scored 33 of his 41 points in the second half, and Maurice Williams had 23 off the bench to help the Bucks surprise the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

T.J. Ford added 21 points, and rookie Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Williams and Ford were involved in a fourth-quarter altercation that led to the ejection of the Nets’ Richard Jefferson.

With the Bucks leading, 92-79, with 4:45 left, Ford and Jefferson got tangled and fell. Then Jefferson and Williams began shoving and had to be separated, and both players received technicals -- though Williams was not ejected. Ford was called for a foul.

Vince Carter led New Jersey with 25 points.

Miami 97, Memphis 88 -- Newcomer Antoine Walker had 25 points and 16 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade had 23 points as the Heat used a 27-7 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to win at Memphis, Tenn.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 12 points, and Jason Williams, playing his first game as the Heat point guard after four seasons in Memphis, finished with 10.

Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Detroit 108, Philadelphia 88 -- Richard Hamilton had 37 points, and the Pistons were never threatenend after holding the visiting 76ers to two-for-13 shooting in the first quarter to give Flip Saunders a victory in his debut as their coach.

Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson scored 31 points, but he didn’t get much help. Chris Webber had 16 points, but he was scoreless in the third quarter, and the other three starters failed to score more than eight.

Washington 99, Toronto 96 -- Antawn Jamison had 29 points, and the Wizards held off the Raptors at Toronto.

Down by three points with 12.7 seconds left, Toronto rookie Charlie Villanueva shot an airball on a three-point attempt and Jalen Rose’s three-pointer clanked off the front of the rim.

Rose had 20 points, but only two in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota 90, Portland 86 -- Kevin Garnett had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Richie Frahm made his first five three-pointers to lead the Timberwolves past the visiting Trail Blazers and new Coach Nate McMillan, who coached with or played for new Minnesota Coach Dwane Casey in Seattle for the last 11 years.

Darius Miles had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, which got to within 82-81 on an 11-0 run before faltering.

Chicago 109, Charlotte 105 -- Chris Duhon had 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds at Chicago, and the Bulls rallied from a 25-point deficit to win in overtime.

The Bobcats led by 25 in the third quarter and were ahead, 89-68, going into the fourth.

The Bulls’ Darius Songaila (11 points) made a three-pointer that tied it at 98-98 with 5.1 seconds left in regulation.

Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace tied his career high with 28 points.

Houston 98, Sacramento 89 -- Jon Barry had 24 points, outscoring Rocket All-Stars Tracy McGrady (23) and Yao Ming (22 points, 10 rebounds), at Houston. Barry made eight of 10 shots, including two three-pointers.

Bonzi Wells had 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for Sacramento, which missed 14 of its first 16 shots in the second half and fell to 0-2.

Utah 93, Dallas 82 -- Rookie guard Deron Williams had 18 points, and Mehmet Okur scored 27 at Salt Lake City as the Jazz exploited the Mavericks, coming off a double-overtime victory at Phoenix the previous night.

Utah outscored Dallas, 28-15, in the final period and got nine straight from Okur at one point.

Jason Terry led Dallas with 21 points but scored only two after halftime.

Golden State 122, Atlanta 97 -- Jason Richardson scored 28 points, and Baron Davis had 15 points and seven assists before leaving because of a strained left hamstring during a decisive 27-2 third-quarter run at Oakland.

Al Harrington scored 18 points for the Hawks.

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Denver Nugget forward Nene is likely out for the season after an MRI exam showed he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in the opener at San Antonio.