Opening night in the NBA provided some hints.
The Philadelphia 76ers had a stat sheet as well-balanced as just about any in LeBron James’ 24-year career to beat the New York Knicks. The Detroit Pistons were a No. 1 seed last season and felt a need to remind the league that it wasn’t a fluke. And the Oklahoma City Thunder — who lost a home Game 7 to San Antonio in last season’s Western Conference finals — went into Texas and took the fight right to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
It is way, way too early to make any conclusions. Boston, New York and San Antonio are 0-1. They’ll be fine.
But there were some things that jumped out after the first three games of the 1,230-game marathon of a regular season:
Philadelphia REALLY shared the ball
James has played in 1,925 NBA games, including playoffs. The way Philadelphia played in one respect Tuesday was different than 99.2% of all those games — in that the 76ers, in James’ official debut, showed remarkable offensive balance.
Here’s how: Tyrese Maxey took 19 shots, Joel Embiid took 15 shots, Jaylen Brown took 14 shots, James took 13 shots, and VJ Edgecombe and Anfernee Simons took 10 shots apiece.
Why is that significant? It was only the 16th time in James’ career that he and five teammates all got at least 10 shots from the floor.
“I just like the way we played,” James said. “We were sharing the ball. We got the ball moving from one side to another. Guys felt in a good rhythm.”
The big question about the 76ers entering this dynamic experiment was whether a bunch of big-time scorers like Maxey, Embiid, Brown and James could share the ball enough to keep everyone happy. After one game, the answer was an emphatic “yes.”
Aday Mara was a great get for OKC
Isaiah Hartenstein is a 7-footer. Chet Holmgren is 7-foot-1. And now, Oklahoma City has another towering presence in 7-foot-3 rookie Aday Mara.
The rookie made an impact.
Boxscore watchers would only see seven points and two rebounds and likely shrug, as if they were no big deal. But Mara was part of what the Thunder did to keep Spurs center Victor Wembanyama out of sorts all night long.
Wembanyama missed 12 of his 13 shots; the one make was an alley-oop lob that absolutely nobody else had a chance of reaching on the final play of the third quarter. The NBA’s tracking data said he was 0 for 4 against Mara, who even got a block against the 7-foot-4 French standout.
Barring an NBA Cup meeting, the Spurs and Thunder — who got 32 points from two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — won’t face off again until Feb. 11. And the only way the Thunder will return to San Antonio this season is either for a Cup game or a playoff contest.
But they got more than a victory Tuesday. They surely gave Wembanyama something to stew about until he sees OKC again.
“This doesn’t prove anything,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in the televised postgame interview. “This doesn’t mean anything — besides the fact that we won tonight.”
Pistons send an early message
Maybe the Pistons thought the game started at 4 p.m.
Around 3 p.m. Tuesday — a most unusual start time for the first game of the season, but one that allowed NBC to show an opening-day tripleheader — Pistons star Cade Cunningham grabbed the microphone and addressed the home Detroit crowd.
“The NBA wanted to start the league off in Detroit this season,” Cunningham said. “Let’s start it off right.”
They then proceeded to get down by 22 points — 72-50 early in the third quarter. Boston was rolling, Paul George was unstoppable in his first game in a Celtics uniform, and the Pistons looked nothing like a team that was the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The score the rest of the way: Pistons 71, Celtics 41.
Detroit prevailed 121-113, with Javonte Green and Duncan Robinson combining for 37 points — and nine 3-pointers — in that closing 20-minute stretch.
Just like Cunningham said, the Pistons indeed started things off right.
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