INQUIRER Sports

SAN ANTONIO ? Tony Parker took a hard fall and left the game but not before scoring 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to 113-96 season-opening win over New Orleans Wednesday.

Parker fell hard to the floor after making a layup late in the third quarter. He left the floor under his own power and later returned to the Spur's team bench.

Parker collided with Chris Paul and Hilton Armstrong of New Orleans, landing in heap on his side. He stayed down for more than a minute before being able to get to his feet.

Manu Ginobili added 16 points off the bench for the Spurs. An ankle injury forced Ginobili to miss 38 games and the National Basketball Association playoffs last season.

Rookie DeJuan Blair scored 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Tim Duncan chipped in nine points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, who were eliminated in the first round of last year's playoffs by Dallas.

The Hornets were led by Paul who scored 26 points and had nine assists.

Emeka Okafor and David West both scored 18 with Okafor having 10 rebounds and West nine boards in defeat for the Hornets who were eliminated in five games in the opening round of the playoff last year by Denver.

In another key season-opening matchup, Dwight Howard scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic routed Philadelphia 120-106.

Howard shot nine-of-11 from the field for the Magic, who advanced to the NBA finals last season where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

The Magic's biggest offseason move was bringing in veteran Vince Carter, who scored 15 points in the win.

They also added forward Ryan Anderson from New Jersey and he didn't disappoint contributing 16 points and five rebounds. Newcomer Jason Williams scored 15 points and France's Mickael Pietrus added 13 of his own.

Marreese Speights led the Sixers with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting.

Orlando came out quickly jumping to a 29-27 lead as Pietrus scored 10 points in a see-saw first quarter.

The Magic dominated the second quarter to take a 23-point lead at halftime.

Howard scored 13 points in the third quarter as Orlando cruised to a dominating 100-69 lead heading to the fourth.