LeBron scores 35 as Heat thumps Mavs

While Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks were on their home court Sunday celebrating the championship they won over LeBron James and Dwyane Wade last season, the Miami Heat was gathered in another part of the building.

It wasn't because they dreaded watching the ceremony, they insisted.

They simply were getting ready to show everyone why they are favored to win it all this season.

James and Wade led a series of scoring waves that put Miami ahead by 35 points midway through the third quarter, the lead peaking when James soared to the rim and tipped an alley-oop pass to Wade so he could have the dunk instead. The game was essentially over then, although the Dallas reserves fueled a late rally that made the final score look close, 105-94.

"We tried to play aggressive," James said. "We're a focused team. We had a great training camp. We came in with the same mind-set we had at practice: use our speed and play with mental focus."

James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Wade added 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Maybe the pregame festivities left the Mavericks emotionally drained because they were down by 15 after one quarter and 21 at halftime. They then gave up 14 straight points early in the third quarter.

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The blowout had less to do with an emotional hangover and more to do with exposing the slow process of breaking in a new rotation. Dallas lost center Tyson Chandler and backup point guard J.J. Barea and added guard Vince Carter, do-it-all Lamar Odom and backup guard Delonte West.

Carter took Dallas' first two shots, an 18-footer and a layup. Both missed. West started the second half in his place and finished with 10 points. Carter had five points, two rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes.

Odom -- the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year, who was acquired from the Lakers a few weeks ago for merely a trade exception -- entered to a standing ovation and got fans roaring again when he made a three-pointer that tied the score at 11. He missed his next five shots before getting ejected midway through the third quarter, but still left to loud cheers. He had four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.

Jason Terry sparked a Dallas rally that started after Odom was tossed and wound up leading Dallas with 23 points.

Bulls 88, Lakers 87:Derrick Rose drove the lane and lofted home a smooth floating shot with 4.8 seconds remaining for the winning points in Chicago's opener, just in case anybody doubted that the youngest MVP in NBA history can shoulder the expectations that come bundled with that shiny new trophy.

But Rose completed the Bulls' dramatic comeback in Los Angeles only because Luol Deng did a whole mess of dirty work against Kobe Bryant.

Rose scored 22 points and hit the go-ahead shot as the Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:44. "If it weren't for my teammates making the steal and getting the ball to me at the end, there's no way I could have gotten that shot off to help us win that game," Rose said.

That credit went straight to Deng, who scored 21 points and stole Bryant's pass with 16.9 seconds left to set up Rose's winner before finally blocking Bryant's short shot right before the buzzer.

Rose was grateful that the Bulls hung on to win the clubs' first Christmas meeting, but even happier about their poise in an early test.

The Bulls had to score the final seven points to earn their first road win over the Lakers in six tries.

Playing with a torn wrist ligament, Bryant scored 28 points but couldn't finish strong in his NBA-record 14th Christmas Day appearance. He had eight turnovers.

Los Angeles still led 87-81 on Bryant's jumper with 54 seconds left, but Deng and Rose took the game away from him.

"I saw a lot of positive things," Bryant said. "Defensively, we were terrific. We did a good job, and we're just going to get better. We're going to be very good defensively."

Thunder 97, Magic 89: Kevin Durant scored 30 points to help host Oklahoma City win its season opener.

Durant led the league in scoring the past two seasons, averaging 27.7 points last season. He was 11-for-19 from the field and had five rebounds and six assists against the Magic.

James Harden added 19 points and the Thunder held Orlando star Dwight Howard to 11. Ryan Anderson scored 25 points and Jameer Nelson 18 for the Magic, which shot 37 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers.

-- AP