t the Canucks, among the best in the NHL in penalty-killing this season, shut down both opportunities. The Coyo

NEW YORK -- Paul Pierce drove his shoulder right into LeBron James, a post-season foul in a preseason game. Basket Stan Smith Pas Cher . A message to the NBA champions? "Its a message to the league," Pierce said. The Brooklyn Nets showed the defensive toughness Pierce said will be their identity, smothering the Miami Heat 86-62 on Thursday night after retiring coach Jason Kidds number. Brook Lopez scored 14 points for the Nets on a night that peaked with the pregame. Kidds No. 5 was lifted to the Barclays Center rafters during a ceremony a few minutes before the tip, honouring him for leading the franchise to its greatest NBA success. The game itself could have used the jolt Kidd provided when the Nets acquired him in 2001. Except for a few James highlights, it was typical exhibition play, with starters resting and subs misfiring for much of the night. But theres already a hint this could become a rivalry when the games do count, as Miami-Boston was before the Celtics traded Pierce and Garnett to Brooklyn. A day earlier, James noted that those two shouldnt have been so hard on Ray Allen when he opted to leave the Celtics for the Heat, since Pierce and Garnett ended up leaving themselves -- though Allen was a free agent and the pair was traded. "Tell LeBron worry about Miami," Garnett said when asked about James comments. "He has nothing to do with Celtic business." James and Chris Bosh each finished with 16 points for the Heat, who shot 32 per cent and did next to nothing in the 20 minutes James wasnt on the floor. "Weve got so many guys out, were just trying to get better and not waste an opportunity to get better," James said. "I think we did that at phases. Obviously, we dont have all our guys playing, but when guys were in the game, they played, worked hard." The Nets believe their acquisition of Pierce and Garnett, along with a number of other moves, has given them a roster that can compete with the Heat in the Eastern Conference. All that could really be told from this game was that the Nets appear to have a better back end of their bench. Miami managed just 12 points in the second quarter, when it went mostly with reserves and fell behind 44-28. Dwyane Wade sat out for the Heat and Deron Williams is still sidelined by a sprained ankle for the Nets, but the exhibition at times had a playoff feel to it thanks to the rivalry among some of the veterans. James was dribbling quickly up the floor in the first quarter and Pierce simply threw his shoulder into James for a foul that stopped the fast break. Garnett played only 10 minutes. Kidd led the Nets to consecutive NBA Finals as a player and became the sixth member of the franchise to have his number retired. A few former teammates attended the ceremony, while taped messages from Kenyon Martin, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson were shown during breaks in the game. Key reserves Allen and Chris Andersen also sat out for the Heat, while the Nets remained without Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko from their bench. The teams will meet again in Brooklyn on Nov. 1 in the Nets home opener. Stan Smith Pas Cher France .com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend. Stan Smith Pas Cher Chine .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre. http://www.stansmithfrance.fr/ .com) - One point guard will return, while another will sit when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Winning the close ones has become a habit for the Phoenix Coyotes. So has winning at home. Antoine Vermette scored the deciding goal in the shootout for the second straight game, and the Coyotes won their fifth in a row, 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Vermette, who gave the Coyotes a victory at San Jose on Saturday, trickled the puck just past the line in the sixth round of this tiebreaker. Henrik Sedin lost control of the puck on his chance after Vermettes goal, and the Coyotes skated off with their third consecutive shootout win. "It was a game of inches," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said, "you see that puck just slide over the goal line." Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan scored in regulation for the Coyotes, 7-0-1 at home. Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Kesler had goals for Vancouver. Vrbata had the other shootout goal for Phoenix. Alex Burrows was the only one to score in the tiebreaker for the Canucks. The series of close wins bodes well for the Coyotes, Doan said. "You get on a roll and you have confidence in a tight game," he said. "It makes a huge difference. Its a mental thing. The more confident we get, the better off were going to be." Winning at home also is a good sign if Phoenix is to be a contender. "If you look at all the teams that have a chance to win or be playoff teams, they all have a good home record," Tippett said. "So thats something weve talked about as a group, and we have to continue to push that. If we can establish a real good home feel and make this a hard place for teams to come and play, I think that carries over to your road record, too." Vancouver, which had won five of six, took the lead with two goals in the first 4:15 of the second period. Only 25 seconds in, Hamhuis scored with a wrist shot just after a faceoff in the Coyotes zone. The puck sailed to the left of goalie Mike Smith and into the nnet. Stan Smith Soldes. The go-ahead goal came on a power play with 15:45 left in the period, a sharp slap shot from a few feet inside the blue line by Kesler for his ninth goal of the season. Phoenix tied it 2-2 with 2:21 left in the period when Doan slammed a one-timer past goalie Robert Luongo on a pass from Keith Yandle. "Thats just a great play by Keith Yandle," Doan said. "Not too many (defencemen) in our league would make that play. Most would just step into that and shoot that. Were fortunate weve got some guys back there that drive our whole offence." Vancouver coach John Tortorella blamed himself for Doans goal. "I tried to stretch my bench, and I shouldnt have," he said. "You can put that on me. I shouldnt have had my fourth line out there." The Coyotes were called for too many men on the ice during a line change in the final minute of the second period, but killed the penalty that stretched into the first minute of the third. The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead just 1:15 into the game when Vrbata tipped in a goal after a deflection of Martin Hanzals shot. Phoenix had two quick chances for more with a pair of early power plays, the first when Sedin drew a penalty for hooking, the second on a slashing call against Kesler. But the Canucks, among the best in the NHL in penalty-killing this season, shut down both opportunities. The Coyotes had a couple of good opportunities during the first power play and none on the second. Smith, who had 48 saves at San Jose, made 31 against Vancouver. Luongo stopped 30 shots. NOTES: Phoenix defenceman Derek Morris left in the first period with a lower body injury. ... All six of Vrbadas goals have come at home. ... Phoenixs Zbynek Michalek played in his 600th NHL game. ... The Coyotes only loss at home was on Oct. 15 in overtime against Ottawa. ... Vancouver opened a four-game trip with stops ahead in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim. ' ' '