The Osaka Evessa celebrated David Palmer's return to the team with a season-opening 73-67 victory over the defending champion Ryukyu Golden Kings on Saturday at the Okinawa Convention Center.
Palmer, the bj-league's 2006-07 MVP who didn't play for the team over the past two seasons, scored a game-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds for Osaka. Lynn Washington, a two-time MVP, chipped in with 20 points and nine boards and Nile Murray poured in 14 points. Ryan Blackwell supplied eight point and 11 rebounds for Osaka in a highly anticipated rematch, one that contained the intensity of a spirited playoff battle.
In the first meeting between the teams since Ryukyu's Jeff Newton, a former Osaka star, scored 50 points in the Western Conference final in May, the Evessa, winners of the league's first three titles, held the star center to a pedestrian eight points and eight boards.