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From The Associated Press

Celtics beat Pistons 88-79 in Game 1 of East finals

BOSTON—Not even a week of rest could prepare the Detroit Pistons for the hottest home team in the NBA.

Kevin Garnett had 26 points and nine rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 22 points Tuesday night to lead Boston to an 88-79 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics' 15th straight home win.

Kendrick Perkins had 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo added 11 points and seven assists for Boston, which earned home court through the playoffs with a league-best 66-16 regular season record. The Celtics rode that advantage to seven-game series victories over Atlanta and Cleveland and held serve in the opener against Detroit.

Game 2 is in Boston on Thursday night.

Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points, and Antonio McDyess added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons.

Bulls win No. 1 pick in NBA draft lottery

SECAUCUS, N.J.—The Chicago Bulls expected to be in the playoffs, not the lottery.

This will ease the sting a little.

The Bulls won the NBA's draft lottery Tuesday night, giving them the right to choose between star freshmen Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose.

Coming off a miserable season and still without a coach, the Bulls vaulted from the No. 9 spot, where they had just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the top choice.

'After this season, we needed a break and I think we just got one tonight,' said Steve Schanwald, the Bulls' executive vice president of business operations who represented them on the podium.

Chicago will almost certainly choose between Beasley, the Kansas State forward who averaged 26.2 points and an NCAA-best 12.4 rebounds, or Rose, the point guard who carried Memphis within minutes of the national title.

Piazza retires from baseball

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.

“After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it was time to start a new chapter in my life,” he said in a statement released Tuesday by his agent, Dan Lozano. “It has been an amazing journey. So today, I walk away with no regrets.

“I knew this day was coming and over the last two years. I started to make my peace with it. I gave it my all and left everything on the field.”

The 39-year-old Piazza batted .275 with eight homers and 44 RBIs as a designated hitter for Oakland last season, became a free agent and did not re-sign. He was not available to discuss his decision, according to Josh Goldberg, a spokesman for Lozano.

Taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 62nd round of the 1988 amateur draft, Piazza became a 12-time All-Star, making the NL team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.

Piazza finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida (1998), Mets (1998-05), San Diego (2006) and Oakland (2007).

NFL owners opt out of labor agreement

ATLANTA—NFL owners voted unanimously Tuesday to end their labor agreement with the players’ union in 2011. The league and union, however, insisted the next three seasons won’t be interrupted by a contract dispute and both sides are working toward a new deal.

“We have guaranteed three more years of NFL football,” commissioner Roger Goodell said after the owners used the opt-out clause built into the agreement signed more than two years ago. “We are not in dire straits. We’ve never said that. But the agreement isn’t working, and we’re looking to get a more fair an equitable deal.”

The decision by the owners was anticipated, although not this early. The 2006 agreement allowed either side to negate the contract by Nov. 8. Godell said the owners acted early “to get talks rolling.”

“I don’t think it was a shock to anyone,” said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association.

Upshaw said he learned of the move by e-mail from Goodell. The union head said his response was: “Thanks, what a surprise.”

Falcons sign Ryan to $72-million deal

ATLANTA—Matt Ryan signed a $72 million, six-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday, ending concerns that prolonged negotiations could threaten his chance to become the starting quarterback as a rookie.

Ryan, the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s draft out of Boston College, is guaranteed $34.75 million. His guaranteed money is $4.75 million more than that given to Jake Long, the No. 1 overall choice who also is represented by agent Tom Condon.

The Falcons confirmed the signing and scheduled a news conference for Tuesday night.

Ryan worked behind quarterbacks Chris Redman and Joey Harrington at his first minicamp with the team this month.

Ryan, 6-foot-5, ranked third in the nation with his school-record 4,507 yards passing in 2007 and was the first quarterback taken in the draft. He and general manager Thomas Dimitroff promised to avoid extended talks that could threaten Ryan’s status for training camp.

Indianapolis awarded 2012 Super Bowl

ATLANTA—Indianapolis has been awarded the 2012 Super Bowl, the fourth time a cold-weather city will host the NFL’s championship game.

The city was a runner-up last year to Dallas, but Tuesday beat out Houston and Arizona for the game, which will be played Feb. 5, 2012 for the championship of the 2011 season. Part of the bid includes a pledge by the city to build a practice facility downtown that will be left in place for local residents to use.

The next two Super Bowls are in Tampa and in South Florida.

Of the 42 Super Bowls, the three played indoors in cold-weather cities were in 1982 and 2006 in Detroit and 1992 in Minneapolis. Indianapolis also plays indoors.

Barkley hasn’t paid debt, casino and DA say

LAS VEGAS—Charles Barkley insists the check is in the mail, but a Nevada prosecutor and a Las Vegas Strip casino want the retired NBA star to show them the money.

“He hasn’t paid and he hasn’t contacted anyone at the casino or the DA’s office,” Deputy Clark County District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski said Tuesday. Zadrowski heads the bad check unit handling the $400,000 gambling debt Barkley owes to the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

“We don’t have any facts that would cause us to drop our lawsuit,” said Jennifer Dunne, spokeswoman for the casino, which filed a civil complaint May 14 in Nevada state court alleging Barkley failed to repay four $100,000 casino markers, or loans, received last Oct. 18 and 19.

Barkley, a Turner Network Television basketball analyst and Phoenix resident, said during a pre-game show Monday before the San Antonio Spurs playoff victory over the New Orleans Hornets that he was to blame for the gambling debt, and said the money had been paid.

“I screwed up and didn’t pay them in a significant amount of time,” Barkley said. “Could they have handled it differently? Yes. But it was my fault.”

Barkley, 45, also said he would stop gambling, at least for a while.