The Toronto Raptors finally sent an opening night crowd home with a smile and a win when they held on to beat the Boston Celtics 93-87 to raise the curtain on a new National Basketball Association season on Wednesday.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James won his second successive NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award after leading his team to victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Thursday's championship decider.

It might be the last Celtics stand for the tandem of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett but they showed their class and determination as Boston humbled the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Veteran basketball player Jason Collins announced on Monday that he was gay, smashing through one of the final frontiers in US sports with a frank personal statement and winning warm praise as a groundbreaker.

The New York Knicks turned up the defensive pressure in the second half once again to shut down the Boston Celtics and take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series on Tuesday.

New York Knicks forward Rasheed Wallace announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday after injuries ruled him out of this season's playoffs.

The National Hockey League has postponed Monday's game between the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators due to the deadly explosions that hit the Boston Marathon earlier in the day, while the NBA has called off a Boston Celtics game.

Rudy Gay drained the game-winning shot in the final seconds as the rejuvenated Toronto Raptors withstood a furious fightback from the Denver Nuggets for a 109-108 victory over one of the NBA's hottest teams on Tuesday.

Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett showed no signs of any lingering bad blood between them as the New York Knicks snapped their 11-game losing streak in Boston with a 89-86 win over the Celtics on Thursday.

The Nuggets brought the Los Angeles Clippers' franchise record 17-game winning streak to a halt on Tuesday with a 92-78 victory in Denver.

LeBron James scored 29 points and flirted with a triple-double as the Miami Heat claimed a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of last season's NBA finals on a Christmas Day schedule of five games.

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was suspended for two games for fighting with Nets forward Kris Humphries in Wednesday's 95-83 Brooklyn victory, the National Basketball Association said.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown has been fired after a 1-4 start to the season, the 16-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions said on Friday.

The heavily anticipated new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball began with a whimper as their much vaunted team bristling with All-Stars were beaten 99-91 by an under-strength Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

The Miami Heat secured a berth in the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals for a second consecutive year with a series-clinching 101-88 win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

A red-hot night from LeBron James fired the Miami Heat to a crushing 98-79 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday, sending the NBA Eastern Conference Final series to a decisive seventh game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder booked their place in the National Basketball Association finals on the back of a furious second-half comeback led by Kevin Durant to take a series-clinching 107-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The Boston Celtics drew on their famous grit and determination to move within one victory of the NBA Finals on Tuesday with an upset 94-90 road win over the Miami Heat to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Miami Heat withstood a virtuoso performance from Rajon Rondo, who tallied a career-high 44 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds, to eke out a 115-111 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics and claim a 2-0 Eastern Conference finals lead.

The Boston Celtics held off the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 in their decisive Game Seven on Saturday to advance to the NBA'S Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat.

Dwyane Wade turned on the style as the Miami Heat clinched a place in the NBA Eastern Conference finals with a 105-93 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game Six on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers finally put away the Denver Nuggets while the Boston Celtics got their series with the Philadelphia 76ers off to a nervous but successful start on Saturday.

Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake landed clutch three-pointers in the final minute to give the Los Angeles Lakers a nail-biting 92-88 road victory over the Denver Nuggets and a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

The Boston Celtics, lifted by the return of guard Rajon Rondo from suspension, scraped past the Atlanta Hawks 90-84 in overtime on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.

The Miami Heat and LeBron James begin an all-or-nothing campaign for an NBA title while defending champion Dallas Mavericks and Kirk Nowitzki face a tough start to the opening weekend of the playoffs.

The Utah Jazz grabbed the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a 100-88 home victory over Phoenix, dashing the Suns' own post-season hopes on Tuesday.

The Boston Celtics stepped up their run to the playoffs on Tuesday by upsetting Miami 115-107 for their second victory over the Heat in 10 days.

The San Antonio Spurs stayed mere percentage points in front of Oklahoma City for the Western Conference lead after both teams won Sunday to intensify their battle in the final month of the NBA season.

Orlando's Dwight Howard was back to his dominating best on Saturday with 20 points and 22 rebounds as the Magic ended a five-game losing streak with an 88-82 victory over Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia.

Boston halted the Milwaukee Bucks' six-game winning streak on Thursday with a 100-91 road win that tightened the Celtics' grip on an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Boston Celtics Kevin Garnett sweats as he listens to the national anthem before their NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, California.

Kobe Bryant displayed his customary late-game heroics and newfound trust in his team-mates to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Boston Celtics 97-94 on Sunday.

The Chicago Bulls defended strongly before going on to stun the Boston Celtics with a late offensive burst to pave an 89-80 victory at the United Center on Thursday.

'Linsanity' reigned at Madison Square Garden for another night on Friday as point guard Jeremy Lin outdueled Kobe Bryant to lead the New York Knicks to a fourth straight win with a 92-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pau Gasol came up big for the Los Angeles Lakers as they beat the red-hot Boston Celtics 88-87 in overtime for a rare road win on Thursday.

The defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors 99-86 on Friday for their first win of the season boosted by 56 points from their reserves.

The National Basketball Association does not yet have a ratified labor agreement but the league moved full speed ahead on Tuesday by announcing a provisional schedule.

LeBron James produced some more fourth-quarter magic to propel the Miami Heat to a scrappy 85-75 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, evening their NBA Eastern Conference final at a game each.

Chicago's defence stifled LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to set-up an easy 103-82 victory over the Miami Heat in the opening game of their Eastern Conference Finals series on Sunday.

Miami Heat defeated Boston Celtics 97-87 on Wednesday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Heat won the series 4-1, and will play either Chicago or Atlanta in the conference finals.