The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics continue their campaign in the 2011-12 National Basketball Association Tuesday night.
Both teams saw action on opening day but posted contrasting results.
The Heat demolished the Dallas Mavericks 105-94 in a rematch of last season's final. LeBron James fired 37 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out six assists to lead the Heat to victory. Dwyane Wade also made his presence felt, finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Heat led by as many as 35 points.
"We're a focused team. We had a great training camp. We came in with the same mindset we had at practice, use our speed and play with mental focus," James told the Associated Press after the game.
"Celebration or not, we had a game plan and implemented it," Wade said. "We came out and played a good game."
Chris Bosh, the other member of Miami's Big Three, scored only four points but it hardly mattered as the Heat drew significant contributions from center Joel Anthony and bench players Udonis Haslem, Norris Cole and James Jones.
The Celtics, meanwhile, lost to the New York Knicks 104-106. Carmelo Anthony's two free throws with 16 seconds left sealed the win for the Knicks, who were swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season.
The defeat spoiled the 31-point and 13-assist performance of Rajon Rondo and the double double effort of 20 points and 11 rebounds by new recruit Brandon Bass.
Ray Allen also had 20 points for the Celtics, who were without injured star Paul Pierce. Kevin Garnett, who missed a potential game-tying jumper just before the buzzer sounded, had 15 points.
Boston head coach Doc Rivers lauded his players' efforts despite their defeat.
"I thought we were as soft as you could be in the first quarter and then I thought we joined in to the 2011-12 season, and from that point on I was pretty happy with the way we played," he said. "I thought we competed well."
