The NBA season is back in business. There are so many games, highlights, memes, and memories about to be made for us NBA fans. I feel like we fans are all Scarface and the upcoming NBA season is that enormous mountain of cocaine that he just buries his head into. Tuesday night we were treated to two marquee matchups between some of the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conference. The presumptive new kings of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics, faced off against the young, upstart Philadelphia 76ers in the TD Garden while the Golden State Warriors hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Tatum Keeps The Garden Warm For Kyrie. Celtics Pull Away In Fourth Against Sixers 105-87
Tuesday's first game of the night was a heartwarming result for a couple of reasons. Obviously, if you're a Boston sports fan you're ecstatic that your squad has all the boys back in town, and they solidified their dominance against one of the other dangerous teams in the conference. But if you just a fan of redemption stories then you're happy that Gordon Hayward returned to the basketball court with a functional leg just one year after he suffered that grotesque leg injury in the very first game of last year.
Hayward finished the night with a pedestrian 10 pts, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, and 4 steals on 4/12 shooting in 24 minutes. Despite the average line, he was still a +10 and everyone was just happy to have him back in a Celtics uniform. He looked slightly timid out there, and he was definitely shaking off the rust in the first half. He is operating on a minutes restriction, which is new territory for him, but I feel like he should be fully back in about a month.
In the meantime, Gordon can just coast behind their uber-talented young duo Tatum/Brown and Kyrie Irving. What impressed me so much about this victory was that they beat the Sixers by almost 20 without a good game from Kyrie! Irving finished the night with 7 points, 4 rebs, and 7 assists on a paltry 2-14 shooting. Whoever took him in daily fantasy was probably cursing his family name.
Kyrie didn't need to take over because last years #3 overall pick Jayson Tatum put on an offensive clinic for the TD Graden. He finished the night with 23 points, 9 rebs, 3 assists, and 1 steal on 9/17 shooting. He basically picked up where he left off of after Game 7 and his impressive series versus the Cavs. He's poised to take another leap this year, and possibly enter into the conversation for a spot on the All-NBA team.
It was an encouraging victory for the Celts, who look like the only true challenger to the Warriors in the East. The Philadelphia 76ers are still clearly looking up to the Green. They got amazing games from young stars Ben Simmons (19 points, 15 rebs, 8 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 7/14 shooting) and Joel Embiid (23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 9/21 shooting). In the end, they look like they're one star short of winning the Eastern Conference.
Joel Embiid even remarked to the media postgame, "This is not a rivalry, they always kick out ass." per Sean Deveny of Sporting News. He's right. It's only considered a "rivalry" now because both teams are relatively good and they've had a tense past dating back to the eighties. When you look at all the talent on the court, it has the potential to be a proper rivalry. We still need to see how Markelle Fultz pans out. We learn in the coming years whether they keep him and cultivate his skills, or if they'll flip him for a big-time player in a trade. Let's hope the Sixers continue to grow, because we'd all like it to become a real rivalry as soon as possible.
Thunder Put Up Fight Despite No Westbrook. Warriors Silence Thunder 108-100
The Warriors got their championship rings in a ceremony before the game. They're these funky little rings that you can open up like a locket. Who knows what kind of tiny things you can store inside of there. Steph Curry can totally store all of his Finals MVPs in there.........because he still doesn't have one.
After the rings ceremony, they did the obligatory dropping of the banner, "Warriors 2017-18 NBA Champions" right next to Chris Mullin's retired jersey in the rafters. I thought to myself they'll have to move that jersey over a smidge to make room for this year's championship banner. But for a brief second my mind pleasantly wandered into a place where I was imagining scenarios where the Warriors didn't get to unroll their seemingly inevitable 2018-19 Championship Banner.
The first game in their journey to the first three-peat since Kobe/Shaq was against the shorthanded Thunder. Steph Curry put up 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists while Kevin Durant pitched in 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Those two were all the Bay Area needed for their first win of the season.
Dennis Schroeder had a great opportunity to show the world what he could do in a Thunder uniform in Westbrook's absence. German Rajan Rondo led the charge with 21 points, 9 rebs, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block along with Paul George's big night (27 points, 2 rebs, 5 assists, 4 steals) Russell Westbrook was in street clothes munching on unknown snacks during the Thunder's 108-100 loss to the Warriors.
When Westbrook and Andre Roberson get back, this team should be an intimidating force in the Western Conference. The Thunder longed for Roberson's defense during their playoff series against the Jazz. Who knows if it would've changed who won that series, given Carmelo Anthony was taking up minutes, but the departure of Carmelo will be an example of addition by subtraction. They just played better on both ends when he wasn't on the court. They'll be able to win a fair amount of games even in the tumultuous West with Paul George, Westbrook, and Schroeder. We will see the true form of the Thunder when he comes back in January. Then we will know if they're a dark horse or if they could be primed for another first round exit against the wrong opponent.
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