Opening Night Takeaways

Four teams hit the hardwood last night in a spectacle that was the NBA's long-awaited return. One team absolutely dominated.

The Bucks began their title defense last night at the rockin' Fiserv Forum which began with a grand ring ceremony. The 360 diamonds across the top of the detachable, large ring represented the 360 wins under current ownership. This team isn't focusing on the folks upstairs, however. All they need is to be led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Milwaukee didn't miss a beat in their first game since eclipsing the Phoenix Suns last July. In their rematch against their 2nd Round foes of the 2021 Postseason in the Kyrie-less Brooklyn Nets, they cruised, minus a couple short-lived attempted comebacks by the Nets, to a 127-104 victory, setting the tone for a season in which they are neither the title nor conference favorites according to sportsbooks and experts alike. Brooklyn will be too much, they say. It seems to me that people are discounting the absence of enigmatic Kyrie Irving and whether he will even put on the black and white uniform this year. I think he will, but Giannis and company could care less. They're the champs.

Giannis erupted with a characteristic performance, tallying 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists to go along with a couple of monster blocks, including this beauty:

He shot a not great, but decent clip of 48% (12-25) from the field, but this included him missing his first three shots of the game and getting various offensive rebounds on his misses after the entire Borough of Brooklyn crowded around him in the paint.

Khris Middleton looked like himself, notching 20 points and 9 assists, but was without the three point volume he is accustomed to reaching, making 1 of 4 from deep.

Jrue Holiday had a quiet 5 for 7 night which resulted in 12 points, and his fellow starting guard Grayson Allen reached double digits in the scoring column. The starters all did their job, Brook Lopez included, but it was Milwaukee's energy guy Pat Connaughton and another unlikely role player who stepped up big.

Connaughton reached the 20 point mark on 8 of 13 shooting, playing just a minute less (29:58) than Giannis and Middleton (30:57 each). Milwaukee fans know Pat is capable of this type of outburst, and even if they knew of 2020-21 end of the bench guy Jordan Nwora, most NBA fans didn't know who he was.

Nwora knocked in three buckets from outside and ended up with 15 points, and played 27 minutes.

On the Brooklyn side of things, an uninspiring performance wasn't without positives. KD looked incredible as per usual, picking up right where he left off against these Bucks, almost carrying the Nets to victory in the 2nd round, just inches (literally) short. He had 32 points on 52% shooting to go with 11 rebounds.

James Harden was a little shaky, going 6 of 16 from the field for 20 points and a near triple double with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Everyone else was pretty flat, except for Patty Mills, who was blistering hot from deep, hitting 7 of 7 from three point range to account for all of his 21 points.

While opening night is not dissimilar to preseason in its tendency to have folks overreact, the Nets should take the threat of the Bucks seriously, and at least for the current moment, the Bucks should be considered the team to beat, not Brooklyn. Barring major injuries, these two squads will be on a collision course for the race to a championship in 2022.

Shifting things west, more specifically, to the Pacific Division, the Lakers hosted the Warriors for a rivalry that has the chance to actually fulfill its potential this season with both squads aiming for a title.

Steph Curry said he played like trash. Many would disagree, but when you're as capable as anyone in the league and you have an all-world ability to go ballistic any night, Steph's definition of trash still doesn't give NBA fans the complete picture of his night against the Lakers. He posted a triple double, the eighth of his career, on 21-10-10. He was pretty bad to start the game, and his field goal percentage is probably what prompted the trash comment, as he went 5-21 from the field (23.8%). That percent will likely double as the season progresses.

Whatever you want to call Stephen Curry's performance, it led the Warriors to a 121-114 victory over LA, who looked like they were in control at some points during the game, but clearly could not gain momentum with everyone out of rhythm besides LeBron and AD. The two superstars for the Lakers went off for 67 points and 22 rebounds combined, but they were the only valuable producers for the Lakeshow. Russ had an abysmal performance, with a final line score of 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 4 of 13 shooting. LeBron isn't worried about his new teammate's season, citing the fact that it's one game:

LeBron's Laker teams been 0-4 on opening nights, so there's nothing new to behold, but it is apparent that the big three will need some time to jell.

The last important takeaway from this game: the performances of Nemanja Bjelica and Jordan Poole. Bjelica seemingly waltzed through the Lakers' defense, scoring at ease as he went 6 for 7 for 15 points.

If Giannis was the MVP of opening night, the runner up might have been Jordan Poole, who started off pretty slowly with some way off the mark misses, but responded with a late outburst to propel his total to 20 points and effectively lead a 38-point fourth quarter for the Dubs, which was the determining factor in this game.

The Warriors are for real, and they still are waiting on Klay and Wiseman to return. In a year where the West seems pretty wide open, it's clear the Warriors are looking to recreate even a fraction of their dynastic success from the 2010s.