NBA Opening Night Takeaways
By: Michael Serio
Tags: NBA, Money, Basketball, Covid-19, Competition

Nets/ Warriors and Lakers/ Clippers

The 2020–21 NBA season has officially tipped off after the historically short 72-day offseason. Teams that were not included in the Bubble are still trying to knock the rust off while teams that played in the Bubble are trying to get their legs back under them after the short offseason. Nonetheless, it was exciting to see meaningful NBA basketball games back on TV.

Let’s start with the Nets and Warriors game. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and new head coach, Steve Nash put on a show against a Warriors team that was without Draymond Green who should be back in the next few weeks and of course, Klay Thompson who will miss his 2nd straight NBA season after yet another devastating injury. While the Warriors did not put up much of a fight against the new look Brooklyn Nets, Steph Curry looked healthy and their #2 overall draft pick, James Wiseman who did not play in the pre-season made a great impression in his NBA debut. Wiseman finished his first taste of NBA action playing 24 minutes. His stat line was impressive. He had 19 points on 7–13 shooting and 1–1 from three-point land. He only had 6 rebounds, but he looks like a guy who should average a double-double with ease for the Warriors. He will benefit greatly from playing with Steph who has great vision and leadership skills that will help Wiseman grow into what should be a very exciting NBA player. The Warriors have lacked a paint presence for a while now, and Wiseman should fill that void.

On the other side of things, Kevin Durant made his Nets regular season debut and looked like his old self after the Achilles injury he suffered two post-seasons ago. KD finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 25 minutes. He played his usual brand of basketball scoring from all levels from the 3-point line, mid-range, at the rim, and most importantly, he got to the free throw line. His new running mate, Kyrie Irving finished with 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. He got to his spots on the floor with ease no matter who was defending him and looked very solid. This Nets team is going to be a major force in the East. They have great depth behind Durant and Irving with Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert and more. They will be in title contention when all is said and done.

Moving on to the night cap of NBA opening night. The battle of Los Angeles was on in full force. The Lakers collected their Championship rings from the Bubble Title they won in October while the Clippers received PS5’s from management. They subsequently got trolled on twitter for receiving the new gaming console as a consolation prize for not winning a Championship.

The Lakers somehow improved from last season with the additions of Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol and others. The Clippers remained much of the same aside from a few small additions such as Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard and Nicolas Batum.

It seems that every time a team has their ring ceremony prior to a game, they lack some effort. That was the case in this one. The Lakers were riding high from the ring ceremony and the Clippers came out and punched them in the mouth. They took an early 22-point lead in which the Lakers could not recover from. While the Lakers did mount a nice comeback in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the Clippers stars were too much to handle and the Clips spoiled the Lakers ring night with a 116–109 victory.

Amid all the criticism this past offseason after his playoff woes continued, he played like an MVP candidate. Apparently, he is back with the same trainer he had during his best seasons in the league. He finished with 33 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Have to give him credit for blocking out the noise and putting the league on notice with his opening night performance. His backcourt mate, Kawhi Leonard looked like his usual self, putting up 26 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in the victory.

Not much to talk about on the Lakers side. LeBron and Anthony Davis combined for 40 points while the new addition of Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder looked like they had a solid connection going on the pick and roll. They combined for 31 leading the way behind AD and LeBron.

The main thing to talk about with the Lakers was the ring ceremony. They did have a touching tribute to the late Kobe Bryant during the ceremony and included him on the Championship ring that each of the players received.

I don’t put much stock into this game as far as how the battle of LA will play out the rest of the season. As I mentioned before, it does seem like teams that receive their rings prior to a game find a way to lose. The Clippers have a big chip on their shoulder, and they showed that last night. I am looking forward to these two team’s matchups up later in the NBA season to evaluate what the future could hold for both franchises in LA.