Opening night of the 2015-2016 NBA season gave us a great finish in the Chicago Bulls victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, an impressive start for a renewed Detroit Pistons and a dominant performance from Golden State Warriors and the reigning MVP.
Cleveland Cavaliers 95 Chicago Bulls 97: Barack Obama rooting for the Bulls, LeBron James playing without a lot of help, and one play to determine it all. A nice set of screens freed James for a drive to the basket against Pau Gasol, one on one. Turns out Gasol has some defense left in him, blocking LeBron’s attempt to tie the game. James finished with 25 points and rebounds, getting help from Mo Williams with 19 and Kevin Love scoring 18. For the Bulls, Derrick Rose had 18 points on 8-of-22 from the field, while Nikola Mirotic led the scoring with 19 points, doing very well in his new lineup spot.
Detroit Pistons 106 Atlanta Hawks 94: As we mentioned before the game, the Pistons have a very strong starting lineup. Behind them? Not so much, but for their season debut it didn’t matter, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the way with 21 points, followed by Marcus Morris and Andre Drummond each scoring 18, Ersan Ilyasova finding his shot again to finish with 16 and Reggie Jackson completing the starting five double-figures night with 15 points. Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 20 points off the bench.
New Orleans Pelicans 95 Golden State Warriors 111: Felt like the playoffs, as Anthony Davis shot an awful 4-of-20 from the field while the Warriors leaned on an MVP-like night from Stephen Curry, scoring 40 points with 14-of-26 from the field. Davis led the Pelicans with 18 points, playing with Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik.