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. Wholesale Authentic Jordans . Jacobs scored two in the first end, but Jahr briefly took charge with two in the second end and two more in the third. Jacobs, from Sault. Marie, Ont., gave Canada some breathing room, following his big fourth end by adding two more points in the fifth to go up 7-4. Cheap Air Jordan . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. http://www.clearancejordans.com/ . So what happens? Stevenson lands a huge left to Dawsons temple only 76 seconds into the opening round and walks away with the championship belt. "I said Id knock him out," said Stevenson (21-1). Real Jordans For Cheap . The Suns termed Fridays surgery by team doctor Thomas Carter a success. No timetable was given for Bledsoes return but the team said in a news release that he "will pursue a possible return to action during the second half" of the season. Wholesale Jordans Paypal . Its not intended to be some magical formula and doesnt apply any context, like, for example, taking injuries into account. This remedial statistical method has gone 9-5 in picks through the first three rounds. CHICAGO -- This time, the Chicago Cubs were shut down by Mat Latos. Starlin Castro had an RBI single for Chicagos only run in a 4-1 loss to Latos and the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. The Cubs began the day with a .232 team batting average, which was next to last in the National League. They managed just six hits in the series finale against Cincinnati. "The story for us has been that were not scoring enough runs for the starting pitchers and for this bullpen," catcher John Baker said. "Its frustrating for us position players." Its also frustrating for first-year manager Rick Renteria. "Theyre all chipping away at their approaches, but were facing some pretty good chuckers too," he said. "We just obviously werent able to generate a whole lot of runs." Edwin Jackson (5-8) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings for Chicago, which has dropped four of five. Starlin Castro had two hits and drove in a run. "Its a tough lineup. Theyre going to make you work," Jackson said. "I thought for the most part I was able to contain them until the sixth inning. They kind of busted it open a little bit." With the wind blowing in on a cold summer night, Devin Mesoracos five-game homer streak came to an end. The Reds catcher was tied with Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, George Crowe and Ted Kluszewski for the franchise record. Latos (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings in his third start after beginning the season on the disabled list. It was his first win since Sept. 2 against St. Louis. Latos was coming off a frustrating no-decision against Toronto, when he was staked to an 8-0 lead and was unable to hold on. He gave up five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings as the Blue Jays rallied for a 14-9 victory Friday night. Thee Cubs fell to 12-31 against Cincinnati over the last three seasons.dddddddddddd Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth and Aroldis Chapman finished for his 14th save in 15 chances. Pinch-hitter Justin Ruggiano doubled off the front of the basket in right field with two outs in the ninth. The call was upheld after Renteria called for a review, and Chapman struck out pinch-hitter Mike Olt to end the game. Cincinnati went ahead to stay with three runs in the sixth. Todd Frazier scored from first on Joey Vottos opposite-field double to left. After Mesoracos single, Jay Bruce lined a double off third baseman Luis Valbuenas glove to drive in Votto. Jackson struck out Chris Heisey before James Russell came in, and Skip Schumaker executed a perfect suicide squeeze to give the Reds a 4-1 lead. "It was the first one in my life. College, big leagues, you name it," said Schumaker, who also had two doubles in the game. "I saw the sign. It worked out." Bruce put the Reds in front with a two-out double down the right-field line in the first, scoring Frazier from second. Votto tried to hustle home from first but was cut down at the plate on Darwin Barneys relay throw. The Cubs tied it in the fourth. Ryan Sweeney reached on a leadoff double, advanced on Anthony Rizzos groundout and scored on Castros base hit. NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was out of the lineup for the third straight game with a bruised right heel. ... RHP Dallas Beeler will make his major league debut in Game 1 of Chicagos day-night doubleheader Saturday against Washington. The 25-year-old Beeler is 5-3 with Triple-A Iowa. ... Mesoraco was picked off first base after originally called safe by umpire Trip Gibson in the fourth inning. The call was overturned by replay review. ' ' '