Slam dunk: Suns put the heat on NBA champions

Tim Duncan scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions San Antonio Spurs to an 83-82 home win over the Phoenix Suns on the opening night of the new season yesterday.

The Spurs were hard pressed all night by the Suns and led for a total of just 46s in the game, including the final 28s after Anthony Carter's offensive rebound gave San Antonio the lead for good.

The Spurs received their championship rings in a ceremony before the game, but the Suns were determined to put a damper on the evening, taking a 16-2 lead early in the first quarter.

In Los Angeles, Karl Malone just missed a triple-double (10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds) in his LA debut as the Lakers, playing without Kobe Bryant, beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-93.

Bryant missed the season-opener with his sore knee, but that didn't stop the Lakers from dominating the Mavericks, as six players scored in double points.

In Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored 26 points and added 11 assists to lead the 76ers to an 89-74 win over the Miami Heat.

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After playing four of their first six matches in the NBL in Australia, the New Zealand Breakers will not cross the Tasman again until they face the Hunter Pirates on December 5.

But they will play games at four venues throughout New Zealand.

Following tomorrow's trip to Wellington and the second leg of the double-header in Auckland on Saturday, the Breakers will make the first of three appearances in Christchurch this season when they host the Brisbane Bullets on November 12.

On November 22 they entertain the West Sydney Razorbacks at the North Shore Events Centre and then head to Hamilton to meet the Brisbane Bullets at Mystery Creek on November 26. They return to the North Shore Events Centre to play the Wollongong Hawks on November 28, completing a month-long home schedule.

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The Breakers can also take some comfort in slowing down Mark Bradtke's progress to a notable NBL milestone.

The huge Melbourne Tigers centre needs another 37 boards to become the leading rebounder in the history of the NBL, surpassing Adelaide 36ers Chairman of the Boards Mark Davis.

Bradtke has 5164 career rebounds and at the rate the 2.09m centre has been pounding the boards this season, the record should be a formality over the next month. He has averaged 14.7 this season but when up against the Breakers' rookie duo of Blake Truslove and Iona Enosa this month managed just nine rebounds - his only single-digit return to date in the NBL.

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Andrew Gaze will become just the second player in NBL history to play 550 games when he takes the floor for the Melbourne Tigers' match against the Hunter Pirates on Saturday.

The only player to have reached the mark is retired Brisbane Bullets star Leroy Loggins, who played 567 league matches.

Barring injury, Gaze should equal Loggins' record on January 21.

Gaze, whose career has spanned 21 years, has played in four grand finals, winning in 1993 and 1997 with the Tigers, the only team he has played for.