NEW YORK -- Paul Pierce drove his shoulder right into LeBron James, a post-season foul in a preseason game. 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. Air Max 95 Clearance . - Mike Zimmer has brought a demanding style to the Minnesota Vikings. Cheap Air Max 95 Canada . The punch happened in the fourth quarter of Milwaukees 116-102 loss to the Kings on Wednesday when the two players became entangled while battling for rebounding position. http://www.cheapairmax95canada.com/. New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Air Max 95 Cheap Sale . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night. Air Max 95 For Sale Canada . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors.Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Simon Despres scored with 2:39 remaining in overtime and Pittsburgh rallied to post a 2-1 victory over New Jersey at Prudential Center. Holding the puck near the right-wing boards, Brandon Sutter passed to Kris Letang, whose own backhanded dish landed on the stick of Despres at the point. His harmless flip to the net beat a screened Cory Schneider to complete a comeback from one goal down late in regulation. Chris Kunitz registered a power-play goal with 3:11 remaining for the Penguins, who won for the second time in their last seven games. Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make only 13 saves. Steve Bernier tallied for the Devils, who had won two in a row. Schneider ended up with a season-high 41 saves in defeat. Final Score: St. Louis 3, Carolina 2 (SO) Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Shattenkirk scored the winner in the shootout to lead the St. Louis Blues in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Shattenkirk was the second shooter for the Blues and he buried a wrister past Cam Ward, while Jake Alllen stopped Eric Staals wrister for the win.dddddddddddd Allen made 26 saves, while David Backes and Ryan Reaves scored in regulation for the Blues, who have won four straight. Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Ward stopped the 29 shots he faced through overtime in relief of Anton Khudobin, who was pulled from the start after allowing two goals on three shots. Final Score: Colorado 3, Nashville 0 Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Semyon Varlamov posted 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season to lead the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday. Maxime Talbot, Gabriel Landeskog and Jarome Iginla scored for the Avalanche, who had lost three of four coming into the game. Colorado avenged a loss to Nashville in its last game on Tuesday. It wasnt a home-and-home series because the Predators played in St. Louis on Thursday. Marek Mazanec made 25 saves for the Predators, who have dropped four of their last five. 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