The first full day of NBA action gave us a huge night from Anthony Davis but a home loss for the New Orleans Pelicans, James Harden loading up the box score and losing with the Houston Rockets to the Los Angeles Lakers, and a surprising performance from Myles Turner to lead the Indiana Pacers over the Dallas Mavericks in overtime.
Miami Heat 108 Orlando Magic 96: A nice start for the Heat in a new era, led by Hassan Whiteside and his 18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks performance. The Magic got double figures from all of their starters, but used just 3 bench players, getting 17 points from them. Evan Fournier led the way with 20 points, Serge Ibaka had 14 on his debut for the team, shooting just 6-of-17 from the field.
Dallas Mavericks 121 Indiana Pacers 130: Myles Turner exploded to open his second NBA season, scoring 30 points to go with 16 rebounds and 4 blocks, helping the Pacers win in overtime. Paul George added 25 points and Jeff Teague finished with 20 and 8 assists on his debut for Indiana. Deron Williams scored 25 for the Mavs, followed by Dirk Nowitzki with 22 and Harrison Barnes at 19 in his first Dallas game. Andrew Bogut had just 6 points.
Brooklyn Nets 117 Boston Celtics 122: Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 25 points, as they almost dropped a 22-point lead in the end, lucky not to have two 3-point attempts by the Nets drop and send us to overtime. Al Horford was efficient with 11 points in his debut for the Celtics, while Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 21. Jeremy Lin made his debut for the Nets, scoring 18 points.
Detroit Pistons 91 Toronto Raptors 109: More of the same from the Raptors, worrying sight for the Pistons, struggling without Reggie Jackson. The Raptors opened up a 10-point lead late in the first and kept things in control, led by 40 points (without 3-pointers) from DeMar DeRozan and 32 from Jonas Valanciunas, as the Raptors looked every bit as good as they were last season. Tobias Harris led the Pistons scoring 22 points.
Charlotte Hornets 107 Milwaukee Bucks 96: The Hornets played good defense, holding the Bucks to 18.8% from beyond the arc, as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, back from another injury, led them scoring 23 points to go with 15 rebounds. Roy Hibbert looked happy for the first time in two years, scoring 15 points and playing 32 minutes. The Bucks had 31 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, and nothing much else.
Minnesota Timberwolves 98 Memphis Grizzlies 102: The Timberwolves got a disappointing contribution from their bench and Ricky Rubio, so the 65 combined points from Towns, Wiggins and LaVine weren’t enough. Both teams had coaches making their first appearance on each sideline. Despite being behind 3-20 in the first quarter, the Grizzlies won, led by 24 from Mike Conley.
Denver Nuggets 107 New Orleans Pelicans 102: Anthony Davis scored 50 points and added 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals and 4 blocks, a stat line never seen before. It wasn’t enough as the team shot just 3-for-19 from three and well below 40% from the field without him. Jusuf Nurkic led the Nuggets with 23 points.
Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Philadelphia 76ers 97: A game with both teams going through massive changes. Russell Westbrook scored 32 points and was one assist shy of a triple double. Joel Embiid wasn’t accurate, but looked good in his two-years delayed NBA debut, scoring 20 points to go with 7 rebounds.
Sacramento Kings 113 Phoenix Suns 94: The Kings looked surprisingly good in their first game, led by 24 points from DeMarcus Cousins and even 22 from the unhappy Rudy Gay. The Suns with their overload at point guard turned the ball over 18 times, and were led by Devin Booker, who scored 18 points.
Houston Rockets 114 Los Angeles Lakers 120: The Rockets started at a hectic pace, the Lakers kept up, and then couldn’t do anything in the fourth, held to 18 points compared to 38 in the first quarter. Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points off the bench for the Lakers while D’Angelo Russell added 20 and Brandon Ingram scored 9 in his first NBA game. James Harden was wild with 34 points and 17 assists, but also 7 turnovers in his first game under Mike D’Antoni. They shot just 7-for-29 from three.
Eastern Conference Standings
| Atlantic Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Raptors | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Boston Celtics | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| New York Knicks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Chicago Bulls | 0 | 0 | – | 0.5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Detroit Pistons | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Southeast Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Heat | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 0 | – | 0.5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 |
| Washington Wizards | 0 | 0 | – | 0.5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 |
| Orlando Magic | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1 |
Western Conference Standings
| Northwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1 |
| Denver Nuggets | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Utah Jazz | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1 |
| Pacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Kings | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 0 | 0 | – | 0.5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 |
| Phoenix Suns | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1 |
| Golden State Warriors | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Southwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio Spurs | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Houston Rockets | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |