LeBron James scored 26 points, rookie point guard Norris Cole came up with 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Miami Heat nearly blew a 20-point lead before beating the Boston Celtics 115-107 on Tuesday night.
Dwyane Wade finished with 24 points and eight assists for Miami, which got 18 from Chris Bosh and twice saw its lead cut to three in the final minutes. Cole delivered the answer both times with a pair of jump shots, and the Heat escaped.
Ray Allen scored 28 points on 8 for 12 shooting for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points and 12 assists, and Keyon Dooling scored 18 off the Boston bench.
Through two games, Miami (2-0) has trailed only once -- by two points, for all of 14 seconds.
Cole's jumper with 3:01 left gave Miami a 108-98 lead, most of which disappeared in the next 59 seconds, thanks to Dooling. He scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining, cutting the Heat's lead to three. And when Boston got a stop on the next Miami trip, the Celtics looked for Dooling again.
Lakers 96, Jazz 71: Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 22 points and nine rebounds, and Los Angeles avoided just the fourth 0-3 start in franchise history with a victory over Utah.
Metta World Peace scored 14 points for the Lakers, who had much more life than the Jazz despite playing their third game in three nights to open the season.
Los Angeles ran away with a dominant third quarter, making a 27-8 surge out of halftime in the club's first win for new coach Mike Brown.
Bucks 98, Timberwolves 95: Rookie Jon Leuer converted a three-point play with 1:17 left, helping Milwaukee hold off Minnesota for a victory in its home opener.
Brandon Jennings scored 24 points and Stephen Jackson added 16 for the Bucks, who were playing without forward Drew Gooden because of a suspension and several other key players because of injuries.
Kevin Love had 31 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves, whose late rally came up just short.
Minnesota was without coach Rick Adelman, who was attending funeral services for his mother-in-law. Assistant Terry Porter, a former head coach in Milwaukee, filled in for Adelman.
Blazers 101, Kings 79: Gerald Wallace had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, leading the Portland to a victory over Sacramento. LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (2-0). Nicolas Batum added 15 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Hawks 106, Nets 70: Marvin Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds as Atlanta opened a double-digit lead early and cruised to a victory over the sluggish Nets in their final home opener in New Jersey.
Jeff Teague added 13 points, Joe Johnson had 11 and the Hawks got big games off the bench from Zaza Pachulia (13 points and 11 rebounds) and Vladimir Radmanovic (17 points).
