The Inscriber Magazine presents the NBA opening night round-up, with the exception being the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks who were the last two teams to start their seasons and that happened tonight.
Opening night started on Tuesday with two intriguing match-ups. The Philadelphia 76ers took on the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Golden State Warriors.
There were some fireworks between the 76ers and Celtics with Joel Embiid, Marcus Smart who was assessed a technical foul, and Jaylen Brown involved. Jayson Tatum also received a technical and Al Horford picked up a flagrant foul.
Overall at halftime both teams were tied. In the third quarter the Celtics’ offense got going, the 76ers were not able to recover. Tatum led the way with 35 points and 12 rebounds, Brown also scored 35, and Malcolm Brogdon and Grant Williams combined for 31 points, five assists, and two steals.
For Philadelphia James Harden led the way with 35 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Yet the biggest highlight for him was on a missed three after he lost his defender with a step back. Embiid finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey added 21 points.
In the only other game of the night the Lakers kept it interesting thanks to Anthony Davis in the first half. The Warriors took advantage with a big third quarter outscoring Los Angeles by 13.
LeBron James did shake off a slow start to finish with 31 points, he also had 15 rebounds, and eight assists, Davis finished with 27 points, six rebounds, and four steals, and Russell Westbrook went for 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Leading the way for Golden State was Stephen Curry who ended up with 33 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals, the recently re-signed Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and six rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 18.
Quite possibly the most intriguing match-up on Wednesday night was the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Toronto Raptors.
The reason being it was the debut of Donovan Mitchell in a Cavaliers uniform, yet the Raptors spoiled his impressive debut. Toronto was able to use a big fourth quarter and outscored Cleveland by 11.
Mitchell finished with 31 points and nine assists, Cedi Osman came off the bench with 17 points, and Evan Mobley chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds. Leading the way for the Raptors was Pascal Siakam who went for 23 points and 11 rebounds yet fouled out, Gary Trent finished with 19 points and five rebounds, and OG Anunoby had 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Quite possibly the most entertaining game came between the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies, a game which went to overtime.
Jalen Brunson took a charge on an acrobatic layup that Ja Morant made, yet it got waved off due to a charge. The Grizzlies ended up winning by three. Morant went for 34 points and nine assists, Santi Aldama 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Desmond Bane went for 16 points and six assists.
For the Knicks Julius Randle led the way with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, Cam Reddish scored 22 off the bench and Isaiah Hartenstein went for 16 points and eight rebounds.
Paolo Banchero the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft had the most impressive rookie debut in the NBA since LeBron James. He finished with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two blocks. His only blemish was the five fouls he picked up.
While the Magic did lose to the Detroit Pistons, Banchero’s future is certainly bright.
New Orleans did not have any problems with Brooklyn. The big three of the Pelicans combined for 74 points. Meanwhile, Ben Simmons fouled out in 23 minutes of action and Kyrie Irving went 6 for 19 from the field.
DeMar Derozan may have had the best start to the 2022 season for the Chicago Bulls with 37 points and nine assists against the Miami Heat. Ayu Dosunmu went for 17 points and six rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic chipped in with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
For Miami, Jimmy Butler went for 24 points and eight rebounds, Tyler Herro added 23 points, and Max Strus chipped in 22 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Opening night for the young Houston Rockets was a good test in facing the Atlanta Hawks. Trae Young was too much as he went for 23 points and 13 assists yet struggled shooting, DeJounte Murray added 20 points and 11 assists.
Overall the backcout for the Hawks contributed 43 points and 24 assists. John Collins led Atlanta in scoring with 24 points while he grabbed eight rebounds. As for the Rockets, Jabari Smith and Jalen Green combined to shot 13 for 37 from the field and 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.
The most improbable victory of the night was that of the Phoenix Suns as the Dallas Mavericks held a 22 point lead. Yet former Warrior, Damion Lee hit a game-winning jumper with a little under 10 second left in the game.
Inexplicably Luca Doncic settled for a long three instead of attempting to get a better look and at least get to overtime.
Prior to tip-off the Indiana Pacers got bad news as Myles Turner sprained his ankle during warm-ups after landing on a ball boy. The Washington Wizards took advantage of the absence and Bradley Beal led the way with 23 points and six assists, Kyle Kuzma went for 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Will Barton added 17 points off the bench.
Indiana was led by Tyrese Haliburton who went for 26 points and seven assists, Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Buddy Hield went for 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalen Smith also scored 16 points and added eight rebounds.
During the off season the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz. Yet not many predicted him to open the season with a 20 and 10 game, still that is what he did.
He ended up as the Timberwolves leading scorer with 23 points and he grabbed 16 rebounds in the victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
When looking at the lineup of the Jazz, it seemed that the Denver Nuggets were going to win this one. That did not happen and the Nuggets lost by 21. Collin Sexton who came off the bench led the way with 20 points in his debut with his new team, Lauri Markkanen led the starters with 17 points, and Rudy Gay scored 16.
The San Antonio Spurs are not one of the good teams this season and this was proven with a 27 point loss to the Charlotte Hornets at home. Terry Rozier led the way with 24 points, six assists, and six rebounds, Gordon Hayward added 20 points and five rebounds, and Nick Richards off the bench went for 19 points and 10 rebounds.
To finish Thursday night off was the Sacramento Kings who wasted a great performance by De’Aaron Fox against the Portland Trail Blazers as he went for 33 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds, he did have eight turnovers. Kevin Huerter added 23 points, and Terence Davis added 14 points and five rebounds.
Damian Lillard had an off night for the Blazers, Jerami Grant went for 23 points and eight rebounds, and Anfernee Simons scored 22.