The NBA season has finally kicked off and is in full swing. The night was filled with excitement as fans were left with two incredible games to start the season. Let’s breakdown the biggest opening night takeaways.
The Battle for L.A. is Easily the Best Watch
In an exciting opening night late-game battle, fans got just what we wanted.
The two teams linked highest to winning a championship put on a show being the L.A. Clippers and L.A. Lakers.
The Clippers stole round one 112-102. Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 30 points while Anthony Davis finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James added a near triple-double with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.
More importantly, the two teams created a massively watched atmosphere. Over 2/3 of the fans in the building were Lakers fans though the homeport belonged to the Clippers. The game had the entire internet buzzing the whole night from GIF worth clips from Kawhi’s opening night speech to spectacular plays from both team’s stars.
The battle for L.A. will certainly not be a let down this season. Round two kicks off on Christmas night and it will certainly have the attention of hoops fans.
Siakam, VanVleet will keep the Raptors Relevant
The Raptors may have lost Kawhi Leonard to free agency, but they should still be in very good hands with Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet leading the way.
The duo combined for 68 points with VanVleet dropping a career-high 34 points and Siakam finishing with 34. VanVleet shot an effencient 12-18 from the floor on 5-7 on threes. Siakam was slightly less efficient on 11-26 shooting but the point remains the same.
This duo can carry the Raptors to a solid season and a solid spot come playoff time.
Siakam should compete for his first knock at an All-Star game this season. During opening night, on several possession, Siakam used his massive length. On one end he out rebounded the majority of his matchups finishing with 18 rebounds. On the other, he would easily slip to the rim and commended double teams. This led to five assists for the big man.
Foul trouble played a role for him as he fouled out but the night ended in an overall solid performance.
VanVleet could very well play himself into the most improved conversation.
Over the last several years, the award has been given to a player who’s leap led to an All-Star game or numbers worthy enough for the game such as Victor Oladipo and teammate Siakam.
For VanVleet, him finally gaining the nod as a starter could lead to just that.
Regardless, VanVleet continued his dominance from the NBA Finals and certainly showed that him and Siakam can keep the Raptors afloat this season.
Lonzo Ball is Finally Confident
From his first three-point attempt, Lonzo Ball showed something that has lacked in his young career.
Confidence.
The shooting from the field may not have been the most efficient as he shot 2-7 and only played 25 minutes. But more importantly, he looked comfortable and the weakest area of his game. He finished the night 2-3 from the three-point line and looked relaxed shooting from that deep.
He continued to show off his impressive array of passes as he finished with five assists including a brilliant pass to Jrue Holiday.
Lonzo will need to remain confident the entire year. The more confident he gets, the more relaxed his game will be and it can only benefit the Pelicans moving forward.
Depth Will Have a Massive Impact
In the four opening night teams that played, all four teams showed how much their depth on their benches will be needed.
For starters, all 12 Pelicans that played scored. This was even without rookie sensation Zion Williamson and fellow rookie Jaxson Hayes playing. They outscored Toronto’s bench 57-23.
Toronto showed a bench unit led by Serge Ibaka’s 13 points that only played three players off the bench the whole night. Toronto is used to relying heavy minutes on their starters but down the road, this could lead to a massive rest issue if more players don’t see action.
The Clippers bench outscored then Lakers 60-19. The Clippers bench unit led by Lou Williams’s 21 points featured a unit that made a name for themselves last year. Montrezl Harrell scored 17, JaMychal Green scored 12, and newly signed Mo Harkless scored 10.
No Laker bench player scored in double figures. Making matters worse, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played 27 minutes off the bench and did not score once.
For the Lakers, this will need to change quickly in order to relieve scoring pressure off their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The biggest opening night takeaways.
