PORTLAND, Ore. — Reserve Travis Outlaw scored 23 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 96-87 in the season opener Tuesday night.
Brandon Roy added 20 points and five assists for the Blazers. Portland hit 20 of 22 free throws and outrebounded Houston 51-33.
Aaron Brooks had 19 points for the Rockets, who defeated Portland in six games this past spring in the first round of the playoffs.
That was a much different Houston team, though. Rockets center Yao Ming is out for the season after offseason foot surgery, and Ron Artest — who pestered the Blazers — left for the Lakers as a free agent.
Houston also remains without former All-Star Tracy McGrady, who had microfracture surgery on his left knee and isn’t expected to return until midseason.
The absence of Yao brought matchup problems for the Rockets in trying to defend Portland’s 7-foot center Greg Oden. Houston started 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes at center.
The emphasis for Oden against the Rockets was defense: He had five blocks to go with two points and 12 rebounds. He took just three shots, and didn’t make one until a tip with 58 seconds left.
The Blazers started Martell Webster, who missed all but a few minutes of last season because of a foot injury. Webster, a Seattle native, finished with 14 points.
The Blazers pulled ahead in the first quarter until Trevor Ariza’s 3-pointer tied it at 20 for Houston. Ariza signed with the Rockets as a free agent in the offseason after spending last season in Los Angeles.
But Outlaw hit on a dunk, a 3-pointer and another dunk to put Portland ahead 30-23 and kick off a 23-7 run that made it 46-30. The Blazers went on to lead 54-41 at the break.
Lakers 99, Clippers 92
There was no championship hangover for these Lakers.
Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and Andrew Bynum added 26 on his 22nd birthday as the reigning NBA champions opened defense of their title with a victory over the Clippers, their Staples Center co-tenants who played without injured No. 1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin.
The Lakers began the evening with a ceremony unveiling the franchise’s 15th gold-and-purple championship banner, earned four months ago after defeating Orlando in the finals. Commissioner David Stern handed out diamond-encrusted rings to almost everyone from last season’s team except for Ron Artest, who joined the Lakers in the offseason.
Celtics 95, Cavaliers 89
Paul Pierce scored 23 points, Ray Allen 16 and Kevin Garnett 13 in his first regular-season game since last March as Boston beat Cleveland in the NBA season opener, spoiling the hyped debut of the Cavaliers with LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.
Pierce made two crucial jumpers and two free throws in the final 1:03 to pace the Celtics, whose drive to a second straight title was derailed when Garnett injured his knee late last season. Rasheed Wallace, added as a free agent during the offseason, had 12 points.
Wizards 102, Mavericks 91
Gilbert Arenas had 29 points and nine assists, helping stake Washington to an early lead over revamped Dallas in Flip Saunders’ debut as Wizards coach.
Arenas shot 10 of 21 and made 8-of-9 free throws for his most points since Nov. 14, 2007. He played only 13 games that season, all because of knee problems.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points, but was only 10 of 25. He was 12 of 13 from the foul line — all in the first half. Shawn Marion had 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his Dallas debut.
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