Shelden Williams had 12 points and nine rebounds as a reserve. Gerald Wallace had 10 points and 12 rebounds, the only Bobcat to reach double digits in scoring.

Garnett, who missed 25 regular-season games and the playoffs last year because of strained ligaments in his right knee, went through his usual pregame routine, pumping his arms and banging his head against the basket support. He hopped around the court, pointing at the crowd, drawing cheers from the fans who believe that his injury was the only thing that kept Boston from winning back-to-back NBA championships.

Pierce took the microphone before the opening tip, alluding to last season's disappointment and promising something better in 2009-10.

"We expect great things. You see up there, there's only 17 of them," he said, pointing to the championship banners than hang from the Boston Garden rafters. "I think we need another one."

In other games:

* At Toronto, Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points, Chris Bosh had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and the Raptors overcame LeBron James' 25th career triple-double to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-91.

James had 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, but Cleveland opened its season with consecutive losses for the first time since an 0-3 start in 2004-05. James scored 38 points in Tuesday's 95-89 home loss to Boston.

Hedo Turkoglu scored 12 points in his Raptors' debut and Marco Belinelli had 10, while Jose Calderon had 11 assists for Toronto.

* At Miami, Dwyane Wade began defense of his NBA scoring title with 26 points, Jermaine O'Neal finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and the Heat opened their season with a 115-93 win over the Knicks.

David Lee scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds for New York.

* At Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 25 points, Al Horford had 24 and the Hawks played some defense in an offensive shootout, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a season-opening 120-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers shot 53 percent from the field but only five of 15 in the final period, including an uncontested layup at the end. They also turned the ball over six times to finish with 25 giveaways, leading to 32 points for the home team.

Danny Granger led Indiana with 31 points.

* At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 17 points before leaving the game after a hard fall and the Spurs beat the New Orleans Hornets, 113-96.

Parker landed on his right side after slicing between fellow All-Star Chris Paul and Hilton Armstrong for a layup late in the third quarter. He lay wincing for more than a minute before walking back to the bench on his own.

Paul led all scorers with 26 points and Emeka Okafor had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his Hornets debut.

* At Minneapolis, Jonny Flynn scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota erase a 19-point deficit and Damien Wilkins' putback at the buzzer lifted the Timberwolves to a 95-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

Minnesota trailed by 16 points with less than 7 minutes to play, but the rookie Flynn scored 11 points the rest of the way and the Timberwolves closed the game on a 24-6 run to steal the victory.

* At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Jeff Green added 24 points and the Thunder led from start to finish in a 102-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Before the game, Oklahoma City guard Thabo Sefolosha signed a multiyear contract extension. Terms were not released.

* At Memphis, Richard Hamilton scored 25 points, Ben Gordon added 22, and the Detroit Pistons ran away from the Grizzlies 96-74.

The two guards were a combined 17-for-31 from the floor, and that was after Hamilton started the game missing five of his first six shots.

Noteworthy

 

* Utah Jazz guard/forward Kyle Korver is recovering from surgery to remove a bone spur in his left knee. He had the surgery in New York, and is scheduled to have the knee re-examined Nov. 9.

* The doubleheader featuring title contenders Boston, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers produced Turner's most-watched opening night in its 26 years of airing the NBA.

TNT drew nearly 3.7 million viewers Tuesday for the Celtics' 95-89 victory over the Cavaliers, followed by the Lakers' 99-92 win over the Clippers. That was a 43 percent increase over the 2.6 million that watched last year's opening-night doubleheader.

* Allen Iverson was listed as inactive last night for the Memphis Grizzlies' season opener against his former team, the Detroit Pistons. Iverson is recovering from a partially torn left hamstring he sustained early in the preseason.