Dwyane Wade hurts a hamstring as the Big Three era opens in Miami

The Big Three were together for merely three minutes. LeBron James and Chris Bosh more than picked up the slack after Dwyane Wade’s preseason debut came to a quick end.

And with that, this era for the Miami Heat got off to a promising, but not perfect, start.

James and Bosh combined for 38 points in their exhibition debuts, and the Heat easily beat the Detroit Pistons, 105-89, in Miami in the exhibition opener for both teams Tuesday night.

Still, the meaningless game may have major significance for Miami, after Wade limped off just 3:17 into the game with a strained right hamstring. He went into the locker room shortly afterward and did not return.

Bosh had 20 points on eight-for-13 shooting. James, the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP who took his championship pursuit from Cleveland to Miami this summer, added 18, and the Heat weren’t challenged after running out to a 20-point lead by halftime.

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Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer had surgery on his fractured right hand and is expected to miss two months. Boozer, the Bulls’ major off-season acquisition, fractured the fifth metacarpal bone in his hand Saturday. He said he fell over a bag at his home.

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The Detroit Pistons have decided to sell the team to Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, a person involved with the process said. The person, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because of a confidentiality agreement, said both sides were negotiating financial terms.

Forbes last year valued the team at $479 million, but a weak economy, the threat of an NBA lockout next year and a motivated seller — Karen Davidson — likely mean the price is lower.

If the sale goes through, the 81-year-old Ilitch would be the only person to own and control teams in three of North America’s four major professional leagues. Ted Turner once owned the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers.

ETC.

A urine sample taken from three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador showed abnormally high levels of plastic residues that could indicate he received a transfusion of his own blood during this year’s race, a person with knowledge of the test results told the Associated Press.

Contador, who has previously denied receiving a transfusion, was provisionally suspended by the international cycling federation last week after a small amount of the banned drug clenbuterol was discovered in one of his samples by a laboratory in Cologne, Germany. The Spanish rider blamed contaminated beef for the result.

In a separate sample taken a day earlier, the Cologne lab also found plastic traces that might turn up after a transfusion of blood from a plastic bag, according to the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Contador’s investigation by the UCI is ongoing.

Contador’s abnormal sample showed eight times the normal amount of the plasticizer, the person said.

The UCI said the clenbuterol was detected on July 21, the Tour’s final rest day. The plastic residue was found in another test carried out on July 20, according to the person who spoke to the AP.

Contador has denied he underwent a blood transfusion before the grueling mountain stage on July 22.

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Olympic champion Kim Yuna hired former pairs figure skater Peter Oppegard as her new coach, two months after splitting with Brian Orser.

Kim announced that she’ll train with Oppegard at East West Ice Palace in Artesia, which is owned and operated by the family of former skating star Michelle Kwan. Oppegard is married to Kwan’s sister, Karen.

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Baylor indefinitely suspended guard LaceDarius Dunn, the leading scorer on the men’s basketball team last season, after he surrendered to police to face an aggravated assault charge accusing him of breaking his girlfriend’s jaw during an argument last week.

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Richard Childress Racing lost its last bid to overturn Clint Bowyer’s championship-ending penalty.

NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook ruled Bowyer will not get back the 150 points he was docked after his winning car at New Hampshire on Sept. 19 failed inspection.

But Middlebrook did reduce two portions of NASCAR’s penalties against RCR. Crew chief Shane Wilson’s $150,000 fine was reduced to $100,000, and the six race suspensions for Wilson and car chief Chad Haney were cut to four.

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The Vancouver Canucks acquired defenseman Ryan Parent and forward Jonas Andersson from the Nashville Predators for defenseman Shane O’Brien and forward Dan Gendur.