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There is so much that gets talked about and criticized with NBA media and the TV product. And plenty of times, it’s justified and fair criticism. But NBC knocked it out of the park last night — from the pregame on-court discussions with Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Maria Taylor to Mike Tirico calling Rockets-Thunder with Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford. Then Noah Eagle and Grant Hill calling Lakers-Warriors. What a brilliant first night for the product.
And that “Roundball Rock” laser show intro hit like a damn sledgehammer. We are so back!
About last night
Thunder win, but Rockets announce themselves
It was ring and banner night in Oklahoma City as the Thunder celebrated their first championship with Kevin Durant and the Rockets watching. It was the perfect setting for the first NBA game of the season, and it led to the Game of the Year (OK, it’s early). The Thunder won 125-124 after battling through a brutal, physical, double-overtime contest that had plenty of moments and a little controversy.
Let’s get to the controversy. At the end of the first overtime with the game tied, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went for the win on a midrange jumper. Tari Eason got a piece of it, and the ball fell into Durant’s hands with 2.2 seconds left. He immediately started calling a timeout. One problem: Houston was out of timeouts. That should be a technical foul and the ball for OKC. Almost guarantees a Thunder win in overtime.
But the refs didn’t acknowledge the timeout call. Look again! Even Jabari Smith Jr. is calling timeout. Alperen Şengün got close to KD to grab the ball from him to stop him from calling it. The Thunder players and coaches lost it at the officials. But time officially ran out, and we headed to another overtime.
After another back-and-forth throughout the second OT, SGA tricked KD into jumping on a pump fake with the Thunder down by one and just 2.3 seconds left. It fouled Durant out, and the reigning MVP hit both of the free throws to put OKC up by one. Smith badly missed the game-winning baseline jumper, and the Thunder walked away with the win. Let’s do some takeaways!
Şengün was a monster. He had 39 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while making 12-of-24 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3 ( 👀) and 10-of-11 from the line.
Chet looked awesome. Chet Holmgren eventually fouled out, but he carried OKC early and finished with 28 points on 17 shots. It’s ridiculous he’s basically a safety valve for them on offense.
I love Amen at the one. Amen Thompson left late in the game with a leg cramp, but he got pretty comfortable breaking down the defense to make stuff happen. He can fill in for Fred VanVleet pretty well. On the other hand, Reed Sheppard was kind of a disaster out there (nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, 2-of-7 from deep with one banked in). OKC targeted him every possession.
Both teams made a statement. The Thunder eventually figured out the big lineup of Houston and the physicality, as you’d expect. But the Rockets were very comfortable across the board against the champs. It took their offense a while to get going, and they need some KD-Şengün chemistry, but this Rockets team looked ready for the top opponent on the road.
Hey, let’s peep the rings!
Before the double OT extravaganza, the Thunder players received their rings. Opulence, thy name is championship rings. It’s a truly beautiful piece of hardware, and normally I’m pretty cynical about the championship rings of today. They often look like bejeweled furniture pieces, but the design on this one is pretty slick. Also, it has a surprise on the inside of the ring’s top.
That’s right! A ring inside of a ring! The ring inside looks like a wedding band, and I’m sure there’s some level of “we’re married to the game” element involved here. It’s a “Pimp My Ride” style ring, but it’s working for me.
The Last 24
NBA doesn’t want to expand yet because … 💰
🏀 Expansion? Relocation? Adam Silver discussed the latest on league expansion. Seems like the owners don’t want to split revenue 32 ways, instead of 30.
🏀 Hope-O-Meter. We asked for your opinions on your teams this year, and I put together the (often entertaining!) responses here.
🐐 He’s back. Michael Jordan made his NBC debut as a contributor. He hasn’t picked up a ball in years?
👀 Best bets! I helped out with giving some of our favorite NBA season future bets. Big on the Nuggets!
💻 Oh no. Mat Ishbia is really responding to people on social media, to the point of trying to bet Bill Simmons on a Suns take. The Suns owner is too online.
🏀 Sour (Big) Apple. Speaking of owners, is Knicks boss James Dolan happy yet?
📺 Watch and listen. Today’s NBA Daily breaks down all the opening-night action.
About last night, Part 2
Gary Payton III celebrates during the Warriors’ opening-night win over the Lakers. (William Liang / Imagn Images)
Five observations from Warriors-Lakers
The second half of the opening night double-header had the Golden State Warriors on the road to face the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers put up a fight and made it close in the fourth quarter, at no point did it feel like the Warriors lost control of the game. So kudos to the Lakers for competing, but their 119-109 loss to the Warriors raised early-season concerns.
Here are five observations from their game:
A big Luka game is not enough. Luka Dončić shot poorly from 3 (2-of-10), but he was awesome everywhere else. He finished with 43 points, nine assists, 12 rebounds and just three turnovers. He made 15 of his 17 2-point shots. And it mostly didn’t matter, because the help was not there. Until LeBron (sciatica) is back, I wonder how many of these games the Lakers will endure.
Jimmy Butler is still a bully. The new Batman in the Bay Area was ferocious in how he attacked the Lakers. He kept finding switches on mismatches, especially on his old teammate Gabe Vincent, and just punished him in the post. He finished with 31 points, including 16-of-16 from the free-throw line. Butler carrying the offense when Steph Curry sits is integral to their success.
The Warriors getting this out of Buddy and Kuminga is eye-popping. Jonathan Kuminga got the start and dropped 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Buddy Hield came off the bench and scored 17 points. They combined to shoot 9-of-16 from deep. This balance by them creates another level for the Warriors.
DominAYTON, anyone? It’s not a totally fair matchup for Deandre Ayton because Draymond Green and Al Horford are so savvy. But he still looked completely lost out there for most of the game. Ten points, six rebounds and four turnovers. None of that is acceptable.
A perfect Draymond performance. Having Horford and Butler on the floor allows Draymond to be more selective in how he impacts. Defensively, he doesn’t have to micromanage as much. He can go make plays. Offensively, he set up everybody brilliantly. He may have close to a career season, impact-wise, which is saying something.
And about tonight …
Ranking all 12 games on Day 2 of the season
We’re not going to do this every day, but with our first full slate of NBA games happening tonight, it feels like we should give a fun little ranking of what to watch if you’re bouncing between ESPN and League Pass. I’m just so excited for the NBA to be back that I’m here to geek out over tonight’s schedule with you.
Cavaliers at Knicks, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: This could (and should?) be an Eastern Conference finals preview! Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart are out, but we’re looking for how this team plays offense under Mike Brown. As for Cleveland, it started last season 15-0. That’s not a reasonable expectation this season, but the Cavs want to make a statement against the Knicks for some early East supremacy. Let’s see how Lonzo Ball fits in right away.
Spurs at Mavericks, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN: The other nationally televised game is a must-watch. You get Victor Wembanyama against Luka Doncic No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg! Two of the most hyped prospects ever. Wembanyama has already delivered some. Flagg makes his debut.
Pelicans at Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET on League Pass: Let’s keep it simple. This is the seventh season since Zion Williamson and Ja Morant were taken 1 and 2, respectively, in the 2019 draft. We’ve only had eight games with both of these guys playing. We get that tonight!
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass: I want this to be a battle to remember. Just can’t bank on that with the injuries. We’re already missing Jayson Tatum and Paul George here. I’m cautiously excited to see how Joel Embiid looks. As for the Celtics, I’m dying to see how much chaos they can cause on offense.
Heat at Magic, 7 p.m. ET on League Pass: Obviously, we want to see what this Orlando team looks like with Desmond Bane right away. Getting off to a hot start will be huge for a mostly young team’s confidence. For Miami, I’m expecting big things from Kel’el Ware in his second season. Let’s see Year 2 Ware next to Bam Adebayo.
Timberwolves at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET on League Pass: This could be a really fun game if the Blazers still have a defensive identity. We get to see Anthony Edwards debut his post-up game. And the Blazers hopefully won’t wait long to debut Yang Hansen.
Raptors at Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass: We get the official debut of Brandon Ingram on the Raptors (remember he didn’t play after the trade last season). How he fits with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett will be huge. As for the Hawks, I’ve resisted buying into the hype all summer long. But they’ve made the right moves. We get to see how it fits together right away.
Pistons at Bulls, 8 p.m. ET on League Pass: With the way the Bulls had all those comebacks last season, this could be a very sneaky fun game. Also, let’s see how these Pistons try to bully their opponents.
Kings at Suns, 10 p.m. ET on League Pass: Why does this matchup make me so sad? I’m very intrigued by how Doug Christie tries to make all of this mismatched talent work together. I really want to watch Devin Booker hoop and see how Jalen Green fits.
Wizards at Bucks, 8 p.m. ET on League Pass: I am genuinely excited to see this Wizards squad. I love their young talent. I’m also fearful of what Giannis Antetokounmpo might do to them. And yes, Thanasis is back.
Clippers at Utah, 9 p.m. ET on League Pass: We get to see this very deep Clippers team get going right away. We also get to see the Ace Bailey NBA debut.
Nets at Hornets, 7 p.m. ET on League Pass: Might as well get one of these out of the way early! I kid, I kid! Uh … Egor Demin and Kon Knueppel will make their debuts. They were both top-eight picks. Here to watch for the balance between Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas scoring.
