NEW ORLEANS - With 7-footer Omer Asik joining 6-10 All-Star Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans figured they would have a formidable frontcourt this season.It sure looked pretty good on opening night.Davis and Asik combined for 40 points, 34 rebounds and 14 blocks, and New Orleans beat the Orlando Magic 101-84 on Tuesday.We just know that were a load in that paint — him with his great body and me able to move around, just try to follow the ball and get rebounds, said Davis, who scored 26 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and tied a career high with nine blocks. Its a good combination.Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Nikola Vucevic added 15 points and 23 rebounds for the Magic, who never led in the second half.Asik, acquired from Houston in an off-season trade, finished with 14 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, which also matched a career best.Davis and Asik combined for 16 offensive rebounds, and the Pelicans finished with 32 second-chance points.They cover up a lot of mistakes that you tend to make just by being aggressive, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said.Indeed, the Pelicans shot only 40.6 per cent (41 of 101) and missed 16 free throws, but still won by 17, something Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said was tough to fathom.Give them a lot of credit for their aggressiveness and physicality that they played with, their second-chance points and getting to the board, Vaughn added. It stares you in the face. That was the difference.That, and Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson, who is coming back from surgery on a herniated disk that cost him more than half of last season. He scored 22 points, including 12 points in a span of 1:39 that helped the Pelicans surge to a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter.It was good for us and good for Ryan, Williams said. It was almost like a statement for him that he was back because he has the ability to change a game with his shooting.The Pelicans lead got as large as 23 when Asiks putback made it 97-74 with 2:36 left.Davis could have had his first triple-double and set a franchise single-game high for blocks if he had gotten one more, but Williams subbed Davis out — to a standing ovation — with 2:29 left.If he gets (10 blocks) naturally, great, but thats not our focus and thats not his focus, Williams said. Im sure hell take a win over a triple-double any time.Orlando led by as many as six points in the first quarter on Vucevics layup, but the Pelicans controlled the second quarter and took a 48-41 lead on Davis putback dunk just seconds before halftime.TIP-INSMagic: First-round pick Elfrid Payton started in his first NBA game in his hometown. Payton is from suburban New Orleans and played his college ball at Louisiana-Lafayette. He had four points, seven assists and five rebounds. It was good being able to play in front of my family and friends, Payton said. At times we played well. We have to pick it up on defence and have to get to the boards.Pelicans: Foul shooting plagued the Pelicans in the first half. They missed 11 of their first 14 free throws and finished 15 of 31. ... Guard Jrue Holiday played the fourth quarter with stitches and a bandage above his right eye after taking an elbow from Payton.ANDERSONS SPURT:Anderson was animated during his pivotal scoring spurt late in the third quarter. He had missed nine of his first 13 shots before converting a three-point play. After Davis hit a 20-footer, Anderson buried three straight 3-pointers, yelling, Thats what Im talking about, after the second. His third gave New Orleans an 11-0 run to close the quarter and sent the crowd into a frenzy.Those are moments that are just great moments that Ill always remember, Anderson said. Those are moments that are big moments in the game.EVANS EXPERIMENTTyreke Evans, who is 6-foot-6, has played guard for most of his first five NBA seasons, including last season, his first in New Orleans. But Williams wanted Evans in the starting lineup this season with guards Holiday and Eric Gordon, so Evans has become an undersized small forward. He had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.UP NEXTOrlando hosts the Washington Wizards in its regular-season home opener Thursday night.New Orleans hosts Dallas on Saturday night. Custom Nike Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . It is unclear how long Kallstrom, who was brought in to alleviate the teams midfield problems, will be sidelined. Arsenals communications director, Mark Gonnella, says the club decided to proceed with Kallstroms signing despite the injury. Custom Nike Houston Astros Jerseys . Ibrahimovic put PSG ahead when he got in front of his marker to neatly flick in Lucass cross in the 59th minute. New signing Yohan Cabaye came on as a second-half substitute and headed Ezequiel Lavezzis cross against the post in the 87th. Moments later, Lucas set up another goal from the right when fellow countryman Alex turned in his corner with a strikers finish. https://www.customnikebaseballjerseys.co...seball.html.com) - The New York Islanders will try to solve their issues against Central Division opponents when they visit the Minnesota Wild for Tuesdays battle at Xcel Energy Center. Cheap Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping . -- LeGarrette Blount wasnt satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Online . 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals while leading the Heat to a 3-0 record. The 31-year-old shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range en route to his 17th weekly honor. CALGARY -- A preoccupied Canadian womens hockey team fell 5-1 to the United States on Thursday as the Canadians tried to come to grips with the sudden resignation of their head coach. Canada wasnt in the game from the outset. Head coach Dan Church left Calgary in the morning without addressing the players. He told The Canadian Press he felt the organization lacked confidence in his ability to defend the Olympic gold medal in February. Assistant coaches Danielle Goyette and Lisa Haley are co-coaching the team until Churchs replacement is named. The loss snapped Canadas three-game winning streak against the Americans since losing to the them in this years final at the world championship in April. Canada mustered just 10 shots on U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter in the first two periods and 16 overall at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary. Alex Carpenter, Brianna Decker, Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan scored with Megan Bozek adding an empty netter for the U.S. Defenceman Tara Watchorn scored the lone goal for Canada after they fell behind 3-0. Goaltender Shannon Szabados stopped 24-of-28 shots. "It was an emotional day," Montreal forward Caroline Ouellette said. "A lot of different feelings around the team. "I suspect thats always the case when a head coach steps down in the NHL. Its just never happened to us. I think we have some people who are feeling mixed emotions. "Thats not an excuse. We clearly were not the better team tonight. Theres a lot of areas of our play that were exposed and that we werent good at. Our passing wasnt sharp, our changes, and those are details we cannot have go that bad. "Maybe we were cruising a little bit having three successful games against them. They took what made us successful in the past games and shoved it at us. They were better on the forecheck and quicker on loose pucks." Goyette, who won gold medals in womens hockey with Canada in 2002 and 2006, pointed out major distractions can happen at the Olympics and the team must learn to play through it. "Any situation like that can happen at the Olympics," she said. "It could happen at the world championship. If something happens really major, we have to be able to turn the switch for two and a half hours and play the game and ttake care of business.dddddddddddd" Canadas all-time leading scorer Hayley Wickenheiser suffered a lower-body injury on her second shift. The forward went down in the neutral zone, got up slowly and skated in pain to the bench. She briefly returned to the ice late in the first period, but did not appear the rest of the game. "The doctor had a quick look at her," Haley said. "She doesnt feel its anything too serious. Obviously theyre going to take another look at it tomorrow to see how it responds, but everybody is pretty optimistic its going to be a day-to-day thing." Canada and the U.S. scheduled six exhibition games against each other prior to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Canada won the first two and also beat the Americans 4-2 in the preliminary round of the Four Nations Cup tournament in November. The two sides meet again Dec. 20 in Grand Forks, N.D., Dec. 28 in St. Paul, Minn., and Dec. 30 in Toronto. The U.S. was also upset 3-0 by Finland in the Four Nations tournament, so they were highly motivated to beat Canada at home on Thursday. The Americans have individual speed and skill, which makes them lethal on the power play. They scored twice with a man advantage. "Weve just been working on getting better," U.S. head coach Katey Stone. "We need to get better in our end. That has been the primary focus since November, honestly. Not throwing pucks around and chasing pucks. Trying to possess as many pucks as we can and working our way up the ice zone by zone. "It sounds really dull, but its paying dividends for us. Weve got plenty of kids who are creative offensively, explosive offensively. We let them go, but weve got to take care of their own end." Canadas team game has been superior because the women play high-tempo games against male midget triple-A teams. But the host teams game was disjointed Thursday. "We have to respect Dan Churchs decision, but at the same time we have to go to work," Goyette said. "But, hey, were human. Right now its difficult for the team and difficult for everybody around the team "Tonight it was hard to focus, but we cant use that as an excuse. I dont think we played the game tonight. I think we were watching the game and it cost us." ' ' '