Fournier explodes in New York debut

Evan Fournier scored a career-high 32 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 56.1 seconds left in the second overtime Wednesday night for the host New York Knicks, who squandered an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter before edging the Boston Celtics 138-134 in an entertaining season opener for both teams.

Fournier, who spent last season with the Celtics, scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and both overtimes as he became the first player in Knicks history to score 30 points in his debut for the team.

Jaylen Brown, who was activated from the COVID-19 list prior to the game, scored a career-high 46 points for the Celtics. That was the highest total by a player in a season opener in franchise history and one point shy of Larry Bird’s record for the most points scored by a Boston player against New York.

Hornets 123, Pacers 122

LaMelo Ball scored 31 points and P.J. Washington sank two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining to lift host Charlotte past Indiana.

76ers 117, Pelicans 97

Joel Embiid scored 22 points and Tobias Harris had a double-double as visiting Philadelphia pulled away from New Orleans in the season opener for a pair of shorthanded teams.

Grizzlies 132, Cavaliers 121

Ja Morant poured in a game-high 37 points, including two huge hoops after Cleveland closed the gap late, as host Memphis spoiled the NBA debut of Evan Mobley with a victory in both teams’ opener.

Nuggets 110, Suns 98

Visiting Denver used one of Phoenix’s primary weapons to good effect, riding balanced scoring to a victory over the defending Western Conference champions on opening night.

Jazz 107, Thunder 86

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points, Jordan Clarkson added 18 off the bench and Rudy Gobert compiled 21 rebounds and 16 points to lead Utah past Oklahoma City in Salt Lake City.

Donovan Mitchell struggled from the field while scoring 16 points.