tallying four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Skelly hit a 3-pointer as part of a 10-0 second-half run and his free throw put the Wildcats up 68-67 with 1:03 left.QUICK COMPAR

MIAMI -- Happy new NBA season.It starts Tuesday night in Cleveland, where the champion Cavaliers will raise a banner and the visiting New York Knicks will see if Derrick Rose can help them start rising back to the upper echelon of the league.Also this week: Dwyane Wade makes his official debut in Chicago after 13 seasons in Miami, life after the retirements of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan begins, and Golden State takes a team that won a record 73 games last season -- plus led Cleveland 3-1 in the NBA Finals before falling -- and adds Kevin Durant to the mix.So without further ado, to start off our weekly look at the NBA, three AP basketball writers offer up their predictions for the coming season:CHAMPIONJon Krawczynski : Golden State. I wish I had more guts, but there is just too much firepower there.Brian Mahoney : Golden State. Cant make a much better case for anyone else.Tim Reynolds : Cleveland. LeBron James chasedown block in Game 7 is yet another reminder that hes the best player alive.MVPKrawczynski: Chris Paul. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry will split the Warrior vote and LeBron will be all about playoffs, so the door is open for CP3.Mahoney: James Harden. Numbers will be sensational and Rockets will be improved.Reynolds: LeBron James. He averages 25, 7 and 7 and makes it look too easy. Besides, hes still owed a trophy from 2011.EAST RUNNER-UP (SINCE CLEVELAND WILL WIN, RIGHT?)Krawczynski: Boston. Al Horford and coach Brad Stevens are perfect together.Mahoney: Boston. Same as every year: whoever faces LeBron in the conference finals.Reynolds: Toronto. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will be even better this year.WEST RUNNER-UP (SINCE GOLDEN STATE WILL WIN, RIGHT?)Krawczynski: Los Angeles Clippers. Theyre desperate for another run, enough to push past San Antonio.Mahoney: Clippers. Youth gets them past the Spurs for the right to lose to the Warriors.Reynolds: San Antonio. I thought about the Clippers, Utah and Portland here as well, but the Spurs still command respect.SURPRISE TEAMKrawczynski: Minnesota. Young legs plus coach Tom Thibodeaus intensity will fuel a playoff push.Mahoney: New York. Derrick Rose has to stay healthy sometime. And Olympic years seem to agree with Carmelo Anthony.Reynolds: Utah. Coach Quin Snyder is underrated, the Jazz are sneaky deep and can defend. Good combination.BREAKOUT PLAYERKrawczynski: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota. First Team All-NBA, here he comes.Mahoney: DAngelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers. Bryants final year in L.A. was wrong time, wrong place, wrong coach for the rookie. Now hell flourish.Reynolds: Damian Lillard, Portland. Disclaimer: Hes already broken out, but hes the pick here because people will finally notice this year.---THE WEEK AHEADHeres some of the games to keep an eye on this week:- New York at Cleveland, Tuesday: Ring night for the Cavaliers, the NBAs season opener, next door to Game 1 of the World Series.- San Antonio at Golden State, Tuesday: The Kevin Durant debut for the Warriors, and the only time these clubs will meet until March 11.- Miami at Orlando, Wednesday: The post-Dwyane Wade era starts for Miami, and the Magic will honor Pride nightclub victims and survivors.- Houston at L.A. Lakers, Wednesday: Luke Walton makes his sort-of debut as a head coach, as the Lakers begin anew without Kobe Bryant.- Minnesota at Sacramento, Saturday: A first-week big-man showdown -- the Wolves Karl-Anthony Towns and the Kings DeMarcus Cousins.---NUMBERS WATCH- Dirk Nowitzki enters 509 points shy of being the fifth 30,000-point scorer in NBA history.- If the Celtics win 15 more games than the Lakers, they would take over as the NBAs all-time wins leader. The Lakers have 3,235 wins coming into this season, the Celtics 3,221.- Stephen Curry has a chance to be the fourth back-to-back-to-back MVP in NBA history, joining Bill Russell (1961-63), Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68) and Larry Bird (1984-86). Since Bird pulled off the three-peat, five other players -- Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and LeBron James (twice in his case) -- have won two straight but saw their reigns end there.---STAT OF THE WEEKJust like when last season ended, the Spurs have the NBAs active career blocked-shot leader. In April, it was Tim Duncan (3,020). Now its Pau Gasol (1,777).---Follow AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds Gus Johnson Jersey . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Raja Bell Jersey . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. https://www.cheapsunsonline.com/429z-gary-gregor-jersey-suns.html . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Mikal Bridges Jersey . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. Shawn Marion Jersey . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. INDIANAPOLIS -- Kamar Baldwin may be a freshman playing in his second collegiate game, but Butler coach Chris Holtmann had enough confidence in his point guard to call his number on the final play.And Baldwin delivered.Baldwins pull-up jumper with 0.4 seconds left lifted Butler to a 70-68 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night. We got the (defensive) switch we wanted, Holtmann said. We wanted to make sure we got the very last shot on goal. Hes one of our guys that can create his own shot.The freshman set up his game-winning basket on the defensive end the previous possession, stealing the ball from Bryant McIntosh with 30 seconds left.Since they switched it, we had the matchup and made the play, Baldwin said.Baldwin finished with 11 points and made a big impression in the first half, scoring seven. He also had three steals, three assists and a blocked shot.Kelan Martin led the Bulldogs (2-0) with 22 points, 15 in the second half. Andrew Chrabascz added 13 points and led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.Vic Law topped four players in double figures for Northwestern with 17 points, making 5 of 6 3-point attempts. McIntosh had 12 points, and Scottie Lindsey and Sanjay Lumpkin each scored 10.Northwestern shot 48 percent from the field compared to Butlers 38. But the Wildcats made only one more field goal and turned the ball over 16 times to Butlers eight.This one hurts, no questions about it, said Northwestern coach Chris Collins. When it came time to make the plays you do to win the game, they made them.BIG PICTURENorthwestern: Finally playing a majoor college program after wins over Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Washington, the Wildcats looked poised to win, but blew a 6-point lead with 5:51 left.ddddddddddddButler: After a comfortable win over Northern Colorado in the opener, the Bulldogs saw a five-point, second-half lead go to waste thanks to a 10-0 Wildcat run. Butler showed mettle, trailing 68-67 with 1:03 left before Chrabasczs free throw with 53 seconds remaining tied it at 68.ROLE PLAYERNorthwesterns Gavin Skelly finished below his season average with four points. But he played 22 minutes despite being the 10th man in the rotation, tallying four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Skelly hit a 3-pointer as part of a 10-0 second-half run and his free throw put the Wildcats up 68-67 with 1:03 left.QUICK COMPARISONPost players Chrabascz and Northwesterns Dererk Pardon (8 points, 4 rebounds) played even most of the game, but Chrabascz came through when it counted. Chrabascz hit a 3-pointer to stop the 10-0 Northwestern run and gave Butler the lead with a lay-up with 2:29 left. Pardon was in foul trouble most of the second half and fouled out with 1:51 to go and the game tied 65-65.UP NEXTButler: Hosts Bucknell on Saturday. The Bison lost to Wake Forest 94-74 on Saturday.Northwestern: Plays No. 23 Texas on Monday in Brooklyn, New York, in the Legends Classic. The Longhorns won their first two games heading into Thursdays game against Eastern Washington. ' ' '