Los Angeles - Paul Pierce and his Boston Celtics' teammates dried their tears just in time to wipe away the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pierce scored 27 points, and assisted on Leon Powe's game-sealing dunk with 5.3 seconds remaining, as the host Celtics opened defence of their NBA title with a 90-85 victory over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

The night was highlighted by an emotional ring and banner-raising ceremony as the league tipped off its regular-season.

"It was important to get ourselves together and make it even a more special night," the emotionally-drained Pierce said.

"You don't want to have a ring ceremony, then leave with a loss. It takes all the air out of it. We're glad we won, but it wasn't the prettiest win."

Rajon Rondo had 14 points and Powe netted 13 for Boston, which held their guests to 35 second-half points as All-Stars Kevin Garnett struggled to score 11 and Ray Allen eight.

"It was a very emotional night, and good to get out of the way," Garnett said. "But we earned the right to have this special night and we embraced it."

LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 22 points. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 15, while off-season acquisition Mo Williams finished with 12.

Before the game, John Havlicek and Bob Cousy led several Celtics greats in presenting the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy to Pierce, as, choked by the moment, tears began to stream down his cheeks at courtside.

"It was very emotional, it was hard trying to get myself together," Pierce said.

"So many thoughts go through your mind of the struggling times in Boston. You dream of these moments and to actually see your dream come true, it's unreal. And to be a part of it, I actually had to pinch myself and say this is real."

The teary-eyed Pierce was the last to receive his championship ring from league commissioner David Stern.

Moments later, he and the Celtics raised the ropes on an unprecedented 17th championship banner - the first since 1986 - to the rafters of the TD Banknorth Garden - to the delight of the wildly cheering sold-out crowd.

After the banner and the bling, the Celtics fell behind by 11 early, but trimmed it to 50-43 at half-time.

Pierce scored 11 points in the third, when the Celtics outscored the Cavs 24-13, including the final eight to go ahead 67-63.

The Celtics led 86-80 when Williams buried a three-pointer with 1:16 left, making it a three-point game.

With a chance to get closer, James drove the lane, but missed a short bank shot with 40 seconds remaining.

After Pierce missed a jumper, James grabbed the rebound and was fouled going to the basket.

He split two free throws, making it 86-84.

With the Cavs applying full-court pressure, Pierce sent a mid- court pass over to the wide-open Powe for a dunk and drew the fouled, opening up a four-point advantage.

Powe missed the free throw, and James split his two with 4.8 seconds left before Ray Allen made a pair to seal the win.

"In the second half we were better," Pierce said. "We settled in and played our brand of basketball."

Elsewhere:

LA Lakers 96, Portand Trail Blazers 76

Reigning league MVP Kobe Bryant scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading the Lakers past the visiting Trail Blazers.

The Blazers lost rookie centre Greg Oden, who in his long awaited NBA debut, suffered a sprained right foot late in the first half and did not return.

"It's just a little setback but you come down on someone's foot and there's nothing you can do, it happens" said Oden, who went scoreless in 13 minutes. "It sucks, but I'll keep working."

The snake-bitten Oden was the top draft pick in 2007, but missed the entire season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee.

Spain's Pau Gasol had all 15 for the reigning Western Conference champion Lakers, who never trailed in the contest.

Travis Outlaw paced the Blazers with 18 points, and Spanish rookie guard Rudy Fernandez added 16 in his NBA debut.

Chicago Bulls 108, Milwaukee Bucks 95

Luol Deng scored 21 points, Derrick Rose - the top overall draft pick in last summer's draft - had 11 with nine assists in his first NBA game, making Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro a winner in his coaching debut.

Ben Gordon added 18 points for the Bulls, while Tyrus Thomas and Kirk Hinrich added 15 apiece.

Michael Redd poured in 30 points for Bucks' new head coach Scott Skiles, who returned to Chicago for the first time since being fired last Christmas Eve following four seasons behind the bench.