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CHICAGO -- Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo -- the so-called "Three Alphas" -- led the way for the Chicago Bulls in a 105-99 season-opening victory against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night at the United Center. Wade, who finished with 22 points, hit 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc in his first game with the Bulls. Wade hit seven 3-pointers all of last season for the Miami Heat.
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His last one Thursday put the Celtics away, draining it over guard Avery Bradley with 26.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter to put Chicago up 104-99. Butler led Chicago with 24 points, and Rondo added four points and nine assists.
Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 25 points, while Bradley had 16 points, Jae Crowder added 14 and Al Horford finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Celtics played their second game in as many days after defeating the Brooklyn Nets 122-117 on Wednesday in Boston.
Hawks 114, Wizards 99
ATLANTA -- Paul Millsap scored 28 points and sparked a 24-6 run to open the final quarter as Atlanta earned a season-opening victory over Washington.
The game-clinching run was also aided by Tim Hardaway Jr., who had 10 points during the streak en route to scoring 21 points off the bench. Dwight Howard, Atlanta's big offseason free agent signee, had a successful debut with 11 points and 19 rebounds. Howard set a team record for most rebounds in his debut with the team. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 18 in his Atlanta debut in 2001-02.
Washington was led by Markieff Morris with 22 points. Bradley Beal was hampered by foul trouble and was limited to 13 points. John Wall added 12 points and 10 assists.
Spurs 102, Kings 94
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points for the Spurs on a night when Sacramento unveiled a new $557 million arena, and San Antonio used a second-half blitz to beat the Kings.
San Antonio (2-0) earned a seventh consecutive victory against Sacramento thanks largely to Leonard. he stole the ball three times over four Kings possessions, turning one of them into his own layup, another into two free throws, and the third into a layup for teammate Dewayne Dedmon.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 37 points and pulled 16 rebounds for Sacramento, which was denied its first 2-0 start since 2003. Rudy Gay added 17 points for the Kings.
Clippers 114, Trail Blazers 106
PORTLAND, Ore -- Blake Griffin and Chris Paul each scored 27 points to lift Los Angeles Clippers to a victory over Portland.
Griffin grabbed 13 rebounds and Paul had five rebounds and five assists as the Clippers won their season opener.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Moe Harkless scored 23 points to go with eight rebounds and Mason Plumlee contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Blazers.
