basketball;nba Rookie Coles has big finish as Heat holds off Celtics

By Paul Levine Dec 28, 2011, 7:22 GMT

Los Angeles - The Miami Heat was on the verge of a late collapse until rookie Norris Cole came to the rescue.

Cole erupted for 14 of his 20 points in the final quarter, and the Heat held off the visiting Boston Celtics, 115-107 on Tuesday night.

'It was blast man,' said Cole, who hit half his 16 shots and came up with three steals. 'You grow up wishing for moments like that.'

LeBron James led Miami (2-0) with 26 points, Dwyane Wade had 24, while Chris Bosh finished with 18 along with 11 rebounds.

Miami raced out to a 20-point lead and appeared to be in control against its Eastern Conference rivals. The Celtics, however, switched to an effective zone defence and pulled to within 108-105 on Keyon Dooling's three-pointer with 2:03 left to play.

Instead of Miami's superstar trio taking over, Cole stepped up. Confident and composed, the speedy guard knocked down a pair of jumpers and two free throws as the Heat escaped to win its season home opener.

'We had to find a way to win and the young kid came in and made some plays at the end,' Heat head coach Erick Spoelstra said of Cole.

Ray Allen scored 28 points, while Rajon Rondo had 22, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Celtics who, without All-Star Paul Pierce due to a sore right heel, dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 2006.

Elsewhere:

LA Lakers 96, Utah Jazz 71: Playing for the third time in as many days, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Spaniard Pau Gasol had 22 with nine rebounds, and the Lakers avoided their first 0-3 start since the 1978-79 season by drumming the visiting Jazz.

Paul Millsap netted 18 points for rusty Utah, which shot a frosty 32 per cent from the floor, in its first game of the season.

Atlanta Hawks 106, New Jersey Nets 70: Vladimir Radmanovic scored 17 points to pace six players in double figures, and the visiting Hawks crushed the Nets to win their season opener.

MarShon Brooks netted 17 points for the Nets, who rallied from 21 down on Monday night to beat Washington in their opener.

Milwaukee Bucks 98, Minnesota Timberwolves 95: Brandon Jennings scored 24 points, and Jon Lauer converted a key three-point play with just over a minute left, as the Bucks held off the Timberwolves to win their home opener.

Kevin Love collected 31 points and 20 rebounds, but missed a potential game-tying three with seven seconds left, as Minnesota fell to 0-2. Spanish rookie guard Ricky Rubio finished with six points, three rebounds and four assists.

Portland Trail Blazers 101, Sacramento Kings 79: Gerald Wallace scored 25, LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 and the host Trail Blazers dominated the second half to blow out the Kings.

DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, which was outscored 55-33 in the final two quarters.