Norris Cole scored 20 points off the bench to pace the Miami Heat, who nearly surrendered a 17-point lead but held on for a 115-107 victory over the Boston Celtics in the second game of the season on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
LeBron James scored 26 points and had six rebounds and fives assists and Dwyane Wade added 24 points and eight assists for Miami, which made 42-of-75 field goals (56.0 percent) and 6-of-10 three pointers. Chris Bosh totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds and James Jones made all three long range shots he attempted to finish with nine points for the Heat.
Ray All led all scorers with 28 points and made 6-of-8 three pointers for Boston, which shot at a decent percentage from the floor (51.4 percent; 37-for-72). Rajon Rondo had 22 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds and Kevin Garnett had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Keyon Dooling scored 18 points and Brandon Bass had 13 points and five boards.
Boston fell behind by 11 points after seven minutes, but closed the first quarter out on a run to cut Miami's lead to three, 30-27, after one quarter. Miami outscored Boston, 39-27, in the second quarter to take a 69-54 lead entering halftime. The third quarter belonged to the Celtics, who outscored the Heat 29-24. Both teams scored 24 in the fourth.
Boston is back in action on Wednesday night when they face the New Orleans Hornets.
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