By Associated Press | November 1, 2007
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers raised a championship banner last night - and then flagged.Jason Terry made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 15, and the Dallas Mavericks, whose NBA title pursuit last season ended with a stunning first-round exit against Golden State, opened 2007-08 with a 92-74 victory over the host Cavaliers.
"We got our behinds kicked," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Dallas came in here and did what they wanted to do offensively and defensively."
The Mavericks held a foul-plagued James scoreless in the first half - and to 10 points overall - in an impressive debut.
Jerry Stackhouse added 17 points and Devin Harris 13 for Dallas.
James shot just 2 of 11 from the field, made five turnovers, and was mostly a nonfactor in the Cavaliers' most lopsided home loss since April 5, 2005.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 points and 18 rebounds for Cleveland, which before the game unfurled the franchise's first Eastern Conference championship banner.
"It's the first game. Hopefully, we can put it behind us," James said. "We didn't play well - at all. . . . We didn't do anything right. We didn't play hard. We didn't execute."
The Mavericks schooled the Cavaliers with ball movement, help defense, and a go-for-the-throat attitude from the start. Dallas led by 14 after one quarter, 20 at halftime, and built a 25-point advantage before the Cavaliers closed down the stretch.
The Mavericks rolled despite playing without All-Star swingman Josh Howard, serving a two-game suspension for his role in an altercation with Sacramento's Brad Miller in a preseason game.
Nuggets 120, SuperSonics 103 - Carmelo Anthony bottled up rookie Kevin Durant on defense, and showed him a move or two on offense, finished with 32 points to lead Seattle to a victory in Denver.
Durant's shot was off in his NBA debut, but he still scored 18 points (on 7-for-22 shooting) in 31 minutes.
Allen Iverson had 25 points and 14 assists, and Linas Kleiza chipped in 18 points and hit five 3-pointers for the Nuggets.
Pacers 119, Wizards 110 - Jamaal Tinsley scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, as Indiana beat visiting Washington to give coach Jim O'Brien a win in his Pacers debut.
Mike Dunleavy had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Danny Granger added 20 points and 13 boards for the Pacers.
Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 34 points, including a 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to force overtime.
Antawn Jamison had 27 points and 16 rebounds, Caron Butler had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Brendan Haywood added 10 points and 13 boards.
Nets 112, Bulls 103 - Antoine Wright scored 14 of his career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead host New Jersey over Chicago.
Richard Jefferson added 29 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Carter had 24 points and a big steal late, and Jason Kidd handed out 13 assists to lead the Nets to their 12th straight win over Chicago in New Jersey.
Hornets 104, Kings 90 - Chris Paul had 22 points and 12 assists, while Peja Stojakovic showed some of his All-Star form of old with 19 points to help host New Orleans beat Sacramento.
Spurs 104, Grizzlies 101 - Manu Ginobili scored 30 points, including the go-ahead basket with 32 seconds left, as visiting San Antonio moved to 2-0 by beating Memphis.
Raptors 106, 76ers 97 - Andrea Bargnani scored 20 points as Toronto began its defense of the Atlantic Division title with a victory over visiting Philadelphia.
Magic 102, Bucks 83 - Rashard Lewis scored 26 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 24 to lift Orlando over Milwaukee
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