Celtics spoil James' Heat debut

Atlanta Hawks

Celtics spoil James' Heat debut

LeBron James made his regular-season debut with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, facing the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics on their home court. The game did not go as he expected, with the Heat losing 88-80.

LeBron James made his regular-season debut with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, facing the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics on their home court. The game did not go as he expected, with the Heat losing 88-80.

James brought at least one thing with him from Cleveland, his powder toss.

James stood with teammate Dwyane Wade during the national anthem. Wade was instrumental in bringing James and Chris Bosh to Miami.

Before tipoff, James showed some love for Shaquille O'Neal, who came to Boston during the offseason. James hopes to do what Shaq did while he was in Miami: win an NBA championship.

Once the game began, it got physical. James tries to get past the Celtics' Paul Pierce.

Jermaine O'Neal tries to stop James as he drives to the basket.

James takes a shot from 3-point range as Pierce attempts to block it. Without James' 31 points, the Heat wouldn't have been in the game.

James wasn't the only Heat player making his debut. Bosh inbounds the ball past O'Neal and Kevin Garnett.

The Heat's big three -- James, Wade and Bosh -- try to motivate one another during the first half. Miami only had 9 points in the first quarter and trailed by 15 at the half.

Bosh puts on his game face as he drives past Garnett.

Pierce grimaces as James takes a jumper from the paint. It was not the last hit he would take.

Bosh goes up for a dunk as Garnett tries to defend from behind.

James and Wade heard Boston fans chanting "Over-rated!" just 45 minutes into the game. Fans might have gotten it partly right. The two plus Bosh combined for 15 of the Heat's 17 turnovers.

James reacts to being called for a foul.

Wade and Pierce fight for the ball at midcourt.

The Celtics lost Pierce with 4:32 left in the third period when he hit the floor and hurt his back as he was charged with a blocking foul on James. Pierce returned with 10:43 left in the game.

James winces during a stop in play. Earlier in the day, a Cleveland radio host hired a witch doctor to cast a curse on the Cavaliers former star.

Ray Allen chases after Wade as he drives to the hoop. After the game, Wade tried to excuse his team's performance. "Sorry if everyone thought we were going to go 82 and 0. It just ain't happening," he said.

Garnett shoots over James. The atmosphere in the arena prompted Garnett to ask Pierce, "'Are we in the finals already?' You know, but (the game) did have a lot of hype on it."

Glen "Big Baby" Davis dunks over Bosh. The bench player, who had 13 points, was one of four Celtics in double figures. Allen had 20 points, Pierce finished with 19 and Garnett had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Director Spike Lee came to see what all the fuss was about. The avid Knicks fan had lobbied for James to come to New York when he was considering teams.

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LeBron James made his regular-season debut with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, facing the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics on their home court. The game did not go as he expected, with the Heat losing 88-80.

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