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MIAMI -- The offseason is over. And only 1,230 games are left until the playoffs start.So, before they raise that banner in Cleveland and the season finally begins Tuesday night, lets empty the notebook and go over 10 more things to know going into this NBA season:---THE CHAMPS: The opportunity is there for Cleveland to get off to a fast start. The Cavaliers play 10 of their first 14 games at home, and the four road contests are all merely one-game trips. LeBron James and his teammates wont have to pack anything bigger than an overnight bag until a two-game trip takes them to Philadelphia and Milwaukee on Nov. 27 and 29. (PS: Defending champions are 55-14 on opening night, including 8-1 in the last nine years.)---LEBRONS LEGEND: LeBron James has been a first-team All-NBA selection 10 times, including each of the last nine seasons. If hes a first-teamer again this year, hell become the third player in league history with 11 such selections joining only Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. The other 10-timers besides James are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Michael Jordan, Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor. Besides James, no other active player has more than five first-team nods (Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant).---FOR OPENERS: Miami has the longest active streak of opening-night wins, with five straight going into their Game 1 of this season at Orlando on Wednesday. Atlanta has the longest active Game 1 losing streak, having dropped each of its last four openers.---WE SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING: Last season, Golden State became the fifth team to start 14-0 or better in NBA history. Of those five, only one went on to win the title. The 1993-94 Houston Rockets started 15-0 and won the championship -- but the 1948-49 Washington Capitols (15-0), 1957-58 Boston Celtics (14-0), 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks (14-0) and last seasons Warriors all fell short in their title quests.---STEPH AT THE LINE: Golden States Stephen Curry -- the two-time reigning MVP -- enters this season as the third-best free throw shooter in NBA history, having made 90.16 percent of his tries. Hes within reach of No. 1 Steve Nash (90.43) and No. 2 Mark Price (90.39).---DRIVE FOR FIVE: DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers will bid this season to win his fifth straight field-goal percentage title. The only other two players to lead the league in shooting five straight times are Wilt Chamberlain (1964-65 through 1968-69) and Shaquille ONeal (1997-98 through 2001-02).---ROAD WARRIORS: San Antonio has a chance to become the only current NBA franchise with a winning road record. If the Spurs go 28-13 away from home this season -- doable, considering they were 27-14 on the road last season -- they would then be 829-828 in opposing arenas all-time. On average, NBA teams win 37.9 percent of their road games.---POP WATCH: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is nine wins shy of tying Larry Brown (1,098) for No. 7 on the NBAs all-time list. Hes also 66 shy of No. 6 Phil Jackson (1,155).---MEXICO SUNS: Phoenix has 39 home games this season instead of the usual 41. The Suns are playing twice in Mexico City, and will be the home team there for games against Dallas on Jan. 12 and San Antonio on Jan. 14. We have an incredibly strong and supportive Hispanic fan base in Arizona, and these two games present a unique opportunity to strengthen our relationship with NBA fans in both Arizona and Mexico, Suns President Jason Rowley said.---PLANNING AHEAD: For those who need to fill their calendars, take note of the following dates -- All-Star weekend in New Orleans is Feb. 17-19; playoffs start April 15; second round starts May 1; conference finals will start May 14, 15 or 16; the NBA Draft lottery is May 16; the NBA Finals start on June 1 and a Game 7, if necessary, would be June 18. The draft is June 22.---Follow AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds Tony Parker Jersey . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Lonnie Walker Jersey . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. https://www.cheapspurs.com/716j-cadillac-anderson-jersey-spurs.html . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Tom Nissalke Jersey . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Cincy Powell Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina lawmakers took steps Thursday to set aside a half-million dollars for the legal defense of a law limiting protections for LGBT people as a judge sought to streamline a cluster of lawsuits it has inspired.Republican lawmakers were mapping out the end of the session, including possible changes to the law known as House Bill 2, which has attracted high-profile critics including the NBA. The session could end this weekend.But there was no appetite to change the provision requiring transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate in schools, universities and many other public buildings. The law also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from statewide anti-discrimination protections.Pressure to change the law has come from several quarters including NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who said earlier this month that there needed to be progress on changing the law this summer to ensure the league keeps its 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte.The league issued a joint statement late Thursday with the Charlotte Hornets saying they were doubtful that proposed changes would go far enough.We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is currently before the legislature, the statement said.Legislative leaders were weighing possible adjustments, while trying to determine whether theres enough support to get the legislation to Gov. Pat McCrorys desk. McCrory has urged lawmakers to repeal a provision preventing workers from using state law to sue over workplace discrimination.The governor has been public in what he has asked us to look at, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said Thursday. We are reviewing those matters and its just still in discussion.Moore confirmed other changes are being considered but he declined to elaborate.The Senate also approved a plan to give McCrorys office $500,000 to defend the law in court, by transferring money from a disaster relief fund. The measure still must pass the House.Entertainers including Bruce Springsteen canceled concerts to protest the law, while scores of business leaders signed a letter seeking its repeal. Rallies to support the law, meanwhile, drew thoussands of conservatives to Raleigh.ddddddddddddOther legislators have said possible changes include increasing criminal penalties for people who commit sexual assaults in bathrooms and locker rooms. There also could be dispensations for transgender people who have undergone sex reassignment surgery but were born in the few states where the sex on a birth certificate cant be changed.Gay rights advocates held a news conference to say nothing short of the laws repeal would suffice.There is only one fix for H.B. 2, and its full and total repeal, said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. If they choose not to and Gov. McCrory and his political cronies run out the clock on this short session, they wont be able to outrun the voters of this state in November.McCrory discussed the law privately with Democratic legislators at the Executive Mansion.Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, described the discussion as candid. But he said Democrats remained concerned that proposed changes dont fix fundamental problems with the law.A spokesman for McCrorys re-election campaign, Ricky Diaz, later said in an email: Any Democrat standing with the Human Rights Campaign and other out-of-state liberal interest groups by refusing any compromise is attempting to drive the NBA All-Star Game from North Carolina.Transgender residents and the U.S. Department of Justice have challenged the law in court, while McCrory, legislative leaders and a citizen group filed lawsuits to defend it. Legislative leaders will have their own legal expenses after filing a lawsuit separate from the governors.Federal Judge Louise Wood Flanagan, who was overseeing lawsuits by the legislative leaders and citizens group, on Wednesday ordered that they be sent to another federal court hearing separate challenges to the law. Her move increased the likelihood that at least four of the five cases will end up before one judge. It also denied efforts to consolidate the two cases with the lawsuit filed by McCrory before a different judge.The risk of inconsistent adjudication is high and the relative expense of multiple proceedings, as compared to a single proceeding, is plain, Flanagan wrote. ' ' '