BOSTON (AP) - LeBron James' Miami Heat looked an awful lot like LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Heat fizzled in the debut of their superstar threesome Tuesday night, scoring just nine points in their first quarter of the season and falling behind the Celtics by 15 points at halftime. Then, James took over - just like he was forced to so many times in Cleveland - but his 21 secondhalf points weren't enough to prevent Boston from winning 88-80.
"This is one of 82," said Dwyane Wade, the Heat's incumbent star. "I'm sorry if everybody thought we were going to go 82-0. It just ain't happening."
The Celtics knocked the Heat out of the playoffs last season, and one round later eliminated James and the Cavaliers for the second time in three years. Thus began one of the most tumultuous summers in NBA history, culminating in James' decision to leave Cleveland and join Chris Bosh and Wade in Miami.
But even with their threestar lineup, the Heat were unable to win their muchanticipated debut against the defending Eastern Conference champions. More disturbing: They couldn't do much of anything until James, who was supposed to have more help in Miami than he did in Cleveland, simply took over the game.
James scored 15 points in the third quarter, making 2-of-3 from 3-point range as an outside threat and 5-of-6 from the line after picking up fouls on drives to the basket. He took seven of the team's 13 shots in the quarter, and Miami cut a 19-point deficit to 63-57.
"We knew we wouldn't necessarily hit on all cylinders right away," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "When we got close and started grinding, that was more of his competitive nature the second half."
But James missed three 3-point tries in the fourth as the Heat failed to claw their way back and the sold-out TD Garden crowd began serenading the alleged superteam with chants of "Overrated!"
Wade finished with 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting, and Bosh had eight points, making 3-of-11 shots.
"It's going to take time, and we understand that," James said. "I think right now it's a feel-out process. It almost felt like we were being too unselfish, trying to get each other into the game."
In what might have been the most anticipated regularseason game in NBA history, Miami scored just nine firstquarter points - fewer than its much less-talented roster scored in any quarter last season; same with James and the Cavaliers, for that matter.