battled his weight and conditioning

ATLANTA -- The Washington Wizards will try to ensure the Atlanta Hawks Dwight Howard Era gets off to a rocky start when they meet in the season opener on Thursday.Howard was the biggest offseason acquisition for the Hawks, who hope to return to the Eastern Conference finals and beyond. Atlanta signed the 6-foot-11 center to a three-year, $70 million deal in the offseason after incumbent center Al Horford took less money to sign with the Boston Celtics.Atlanta went 48-34 last season, finished fourth in the Eastern Conference and was swept by Cleveland in the conference semifinals. Washington went 41-41 to finish 10th in the East and missed the playoffs.The Hawks are hopeful that the 30-year-old Howard, a native of Atlanta, can revive his career. He averaged 17.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks over his 12-year career, but slipped to 13.7 points for the Rockets last season.Playing at home, where people have great expectations for what is supposed to happen here, sometimes it can get a little nerve-racking, Howard said. For me, I just try not to think about it. I just try to approach it as though its any other game. But I know this city. They have their hopes real high on us and on me.Its a new start for Washington, too. The Wizards fired coach Randy Wittman and hired Scott Brooks, who spent six seasons at Oklahoma City and took the Thunder to the NBA finals in 2011-12.The Wizards are led by guard John Wall, who averaged 19.9 points and 10.2 assists last season, and Bradley Beal, who averaged 17.4 points while dealing with hip and leg issues that limited him to 55 games. Beal showed he was fully recovered in the preseason, when he effectively distributed the ball and had very few turnovers.Us as players are coming in with a mindset of whatever we have to do, getting it done, Wall said. Its an all-new beginning for all of us, so we want to get off to a good start with a new coaching staff and new group of players we have on the team.Washington is also expected to start Otto Porter, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat. The Wizards are hopeful that Morris can become the 3-point shooting threat the team has been missing.The Wizards also expect to see second-year player Kelly Oubre Jr. take big strides forward and be a key player off the bench. He should play more than he did a year ago, when he averaged 11 minutes.The Hawks had their starting five on the court at the same time in their final two preseason games. Atlanta will start Howard, forwards Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver and guards Dennis Schroder and Kent Bazemore.Schroder will be the starter at point guard after veteran Jeff Teague was traded to Indiana. Malcolm Delaney will be the backup at point.The Wizards play their first two games on the road, going to Memphis on Sunday, before playing at home on Wednesday against Toronto. The Hawks travel to Philadelphia for a game on Saturday afternoon.Anthony Davis Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. Jahlil Okafor Pelicans Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. http://www.shoppelicansonline.com/Authentic-ETwaun-Moore-Pelicans-Jersey/ . LUCIE, Fla. New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Custom New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason.RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried is eager to see what offseason changes do for his program after a stumble.After last years injury-plagued Wolfpack missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his five seasons, Gottfried hit the recruiting trail for several spring additions while reshaping a coaching staff that had been intact since his arrival in Raleigh. Now N.C. State has two new assistants and a roster featuring a top-10 national recruiting class along with key returnees -- a mix that could get N.C. State back into the NCAAs.Its like if you and I play cards together, and if you kick my tail in cards, I cant wait to play again, Gottfried said. Lets go play. Thats kind of where we are: Im ready, lets go, our players are ready. ... We have that kind of anxiousness about getting this year started because of that.The Wolfpack (16-17, 5-13 Atlantic Coast Conference) relied heavily on ACC-leading scorer Anthony Cat Barber last year, but he left with a year of eligibility remaining to pursue a professional career. Twin wings Caleb and Cody Martin transferred, while senior forward Lennard Freeman is likely to redshirt to fully recover from a leg injury that lingered through last season.The biggest cause for optimism in Raleigh is the debut of touted freshman Dennis Smith Jr. He enrolled early in January to rehab a serious knee injury and is fully recovered , while the recruiting class also features a five-star Turkish big man Omer Yurtseven -- though the school is waiting for the NCAA to clear him to play as an amateur.Throw in the debut of Torin Dorn Jr., a former Conference USA freshman of the year from Charlotte who sat out last year, and N.C. State has an infusion of young talent.Among the returnees, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu, the teams No. 2 scorer and top rebounder, is back along with sophomore wing Maverick Rowan and senior center BeeJay Anya. N.C. State will also get back a player it never really had last year in West Virginia transfer guard Terry Henderson, who played just 7 minutes in the season opener before going down with an ankle injury..dddddddddddd---Some other things to know about the Wolfpack this season:SMITHS DEBUT: Smith is a likely one-and-done prospect, a player that Gottfried described bluntly as the best guard in the country. Period. Hands down. The instate recruit from Fayetteville exudes confidence and hasnt seemed fazed by his recovery, even back during summer workouts . I didnt wear a brace or anything like that at all, Smith said recently. As soon as they cleared me, I was ready to go. The mental aspect of recovering was pretty easy for me.HENDERSONS RUST: Henderson was supposed to give the Wolfpack a 3-point shooter, second ballhandler and wing defender before his injury. Now hes entering a season in which he has had a nearly two-year layoff with a long recovery , going back to the 2014-15 season when he sat out as a transfer. Just know Im back, Henderson said, and Im here to win.BODIES UP FRONT: The return of Abu and Anya gives N.C. State some size, but the Wolfpack sure could use Yurtseven, too. Abu will have to continue to develop his offensive game and attack the glass, while Anya -- who has battled his weight and conditioning issues throughout his career -- has contributed in the past as a shot blocker and rebounder (not to mention with a pretty big shot in 2015, too).BENCH CHANGES: N.C. State has two new assistants in former Oklahoma State assistant Butch Pierre and former UT-Martin head coach Heath Schroyer. They replace Rob Moxley -- who shifted into an administrative role after a life-threatening health scare in 2015 -- and Bobby Lutz, a strong Xs-and-Os assistant now with the NBDLs Windy City Bulls.OUTSIDE SHOOTING: Rowan is the only returnee with more than one made 3-pointer last year. The Wolfpack must find reliable shooters to go with Rowan, who hit a team-high 81 3s and shot 34 percent from behind the arc last year.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap and the APs college basketball site at http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '