Celtics have first laugh as Shaq and LeBron fall in NBA opener

Tough night in Witness land. If Shaquille ONeal is supposed to get the Cleveland Cavaliers over the top and keep LeBron James here....

Tough night in Witness land. If Shaquille ONeal is supposed to get the Cleveland Cavaliers over the top and keep LeBron James here,lets just say the local townspeople have a lot to look forward to.

The faithful in the Witness T-shirts an allusion to Jamess tattoo didnt see it Tuesday night,even if the season started and the NBA served up the Boston Celtics,as if on a platter. Neither team had won on the others floor in the last two seasons when they became arch-rivals,but that ended with Bostons 95-89 victory in Quicken Loans Arena.

The LeBron-Shaq tandem combined for 48 points,but James had 38 of them. ONeal scored six points in the first seven minutes,making all three of his shots 8230; and four points the rest of the way,making two of his last eight shots. No,witnesses,this isnt quite the Shaq you heard about all those years.

Boston GM Danny Ainge,who once compared a younger ONeal and a way younger Kobe Bryant to Wilt Chamberlain playing with Michael Jordan,was asked about the new tandem,Im just glad Shaquille is 37, said Ainge,laughing.

If ONeal is hardly what he was as a Los Angeles Lakers from age 24-32,there are no others like him. Whatever you were doing,after Shaq arrives youre no longer doing it the same way. Tuesday night started,as advertised or ballyhooed,with ONeal making his first three shots,as the Cavaliers shot off to a 17-4 lead. They were up,21-12,at the 4:54 mark when Coach Mike Brown sent in their former starting centre,Zydraunas Ilgauskas,for ONeal pulling the plug on the evening.

With home fans booing Shaqs departure,the Cavaliers stopped doing much of anything. The Celtics got out of the first quarter and turned it around in the second,going up,51-45,by halftime and pushing their lead to 15 points in the third quarter. Ive got to get a feel for his minutes, said Brown,of taking ONeal out. This is the first time Shaq has played into the fourth quarter. I didnt do a good job of substituting tonight.

Shaq,asked if he wanted to stay in,said: Yeah. Id rather stay in and look over at him Brown and tell him I need a rest. But were still learning each other.

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Not that this break-in period was a surprise to the Cavaliers. Whether it was their swine flu scare,when several players including James got sick,or deference to ONeals age,Brown eased up on his players,even giving them two days off after getting hammered by the Celtics in their last exhibition Oct. 20.

Said James before the game: This doesnt define whos the best team in the East or the best team in the league. Were just going to try to do what were working on in practice. 8230; It could take a few weeks,and Im not saying were going to lose ball games in that span. But as far as us meshing and having a rotation down and having the same momentum we had last year might take some time,because we have new guys.

Then came the first night of the meshing process. With the Celtics up by 15,James,who went 45 minutes,led a late rally in his old single-handed style,but it fell short. LeBron isnt supposed to have to do it alone any more,but its early,the Cavaliers and their witnesses hope.