A HISTORIC First Day Of The New NBA Season
The 2024/2025 NBA Season is here and off to an incredible start. Two incredible individual performances, banner number 18 raised for Boston, and the first-ever father/son duo checking into the same NBA game. Among these were two impressive wins for the two most-winningest teams in NBA History.
Celtics v Knicks
Just when the NBA world thought the Celtics wouldn't be as good this year, they quickly shut all that noise down. From the game's first play, the Celtics were on fire at TD Garden.
Both teams started strong in the first few minutes, scoring tough bucket after tough bucket. Boston continued their red-hot start, hitting 10 three-pointers in just the first quarter.
Tatum finished the period with 15 points, as the home team took an early lead. Jalen Brunson was excellent in the first half scoring 15 on 6/7 shooting, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored his first basket as a Knick with a beautiful left-hand push-shot. The Celtics refused to stop hitting shots though and had a 19-point lead midway through the second quarter. Miles McBride came off the New York bench and was their sole source of offense in the second, scoring 14 points on 5/5 shooting.
The second half was more of the same, as Tatum (37 PTS, 8 3PM) in particular continued to light up the Knicks. Derrick White (24 PTS, 6 3PM), and Jaylen Brown (23 PTS, 5 3PM) were the next highest scorers for Boston, as the team hit 29 threes with over 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. With just one more needed for the NBA record, the Celtics then missed 13 straight attempts from downtown. Regardless, this was a statement performance from Boston, blowing out the team that many considered to be their biggest competition coming into the season.
New York fell flat offensively besides Brunson (22 PTS) and McBride (22 PTS). Their next chance comes against Indiana in New York. Boston moves on to Washington in two days' time.
Lakers v Timberwolves
This was always going to be a huge night for the James' family, with the possibility of LeBron and Bronny James checking in together for the first time in an NBA game. It happened midway through the second quarter, to a massive standing ovation from the Staples Center crowd.
JJ Redick also secured his first win as an NBA Head Coach, as his Lakers put away the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-103.
Despite the anticipated debut of Bronny, Anthony Davis was the star of the show. He put up a monster stat line of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks in an MVP-level performance. The Laker faithful will be praying that Davis can have another injury-free season, as he looked dominant against the 2023/24 Defensive Player of the Year.
The new-look Timberwolves looked relatively disorganized, which was to be somewhat expected following the recent roster changes. Anthony Edwards scored the ball well, scoring 27 points, but his teammates didn't offer a lot in support. Despite the Lakers shooting just 5-30 (16.7%) from three, they forced 15 Minnesota turnovers, which they capitalized on.
Julius Randle finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds in his Wolves debut, and Donte DiVincenzo scored 10. Their next game is in Sacramento on Thursday, as the Lakers face Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns back at Staples on the same day.
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