Opening Night Analysis

While watching the games on opening night, I took some chicken scratch type notes about a bunch of things before turning it into notes with actual stats and proper information.  I didn’t do this much last year, but I hope to do this more this season.  I included observations about both games, the Bucks vs. Nets and Warriors vs. Lakers.

 

Bucks beat Nets 127-104

·         The Bucks looked like a team that was ready to play and cohesive while the Nets didn’t.  The fact that the Bucks attempted 21 more field goals (105-84) speaks volumes.

·         The Nets didn’t seem to play that hard in transition at points.  There were two plays in particular where Nic Claxton was lazy getting back on defense, resulting in a Grayson Allen 3, and another a few plays later where James Harden walked back on defense.

·         The game was close in terms of turnovers (Nets had more turnovers, 13-8), but the Bucks seemed competent doing anything off them, outscoring the Nets off turnovers 22-2.

·         The Nets had an atrocious night at the line; they went only 13-23 (56.5%) and multiple good shooters struggled (Kevin Durant went 3-6, LaMarcus Aldridge went 1-4).  By comparison, the Bucks went 14-18 (77.8%), which was fine.

·         The Nets might have shot well from 3 (17-32, 53.1%), but the Bucks played so well on defense.  In particular, the Nets shot 20-52 (38.5%) from 2 and often dealt with heavily contested looks.

·         Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t have the most efficient game since he was taking a lot of difficult jumpers, but he still played incredibly well.  He shot 12-25 but still had 32 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, and was a +25.

·         Khris Middleton always seems to take the most difficult shots but still winds up being in the running for a 50/40/90 season; it makes no sense how he keeps pulling this off.  He scored 20 points on 8-17 shooting and also had 9 rebounds and 3 assists while being a +20.

·         Kevin Durant was having such a good game on offense, as he had 32 points on 13-25 shooting, but still was a -20.  He also had 11 rebounds and 4 assists (the assists are impressive considering how bad the rest of the team was).

·         James Harden had a tough game shooting (6-16 from the field), but still had 20 points and 8 assists, though he was a -20.

·         Patty Mills had an excellent game for them, making all 7 of his 3’s for 21 points.  He looked like he instantly fit with this team and was one of two Nets players with a positive +/-, with a +7 (Aldridge was a +2).

·         Outside of Mills, the Nets’ bench was horrid.  The bench players not named Patty Mills scored a total of 4 points, made up of a free throw from James Johnson, a free throw from LaMarcus Aldridge, and a couple free throws in garbage time from Cam Thomas.  This is not something that is acceptable for a championship contender and needs to improve.

·         Grayson Allen might have struggled from the field (3-10, all 3’s), but I loved his fit with the team already.  He had 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, played aggressive defense, and was still a constant threat from behind the line, finishing with a +23.

·         This is minor, but Thanasis Antetokounmpo guarded Harden at one point with his hands behind his back, and it pisses me off when players do that.  Why would you opt to hide your hands for them to possibly call a foul (though the league has changed rules regarding offense-initiated contact, so it might not be) so that Harden can get by you anyways or shoot over you?  I find it foolish, especially since he can still get fouled with the hands behind the back.

Warriors beat Lakers 121-114

·         The reason the Lakers lost the game was due to free throw shooting.  They shot 9-19 (47.4%) from the line, while the Warriors shot 25-30 (83.3%).

·         Both teams appeared to be really sloppy with turnovers and fouls in the first quarter.  It didn’t seem quite as bad later on, but both teams ended up turning the ball over 17 times.  It was a bit painful to watch.

·         I was not surprised to see the Golden State’s passing game look as good as it did.  They had 30 assists, but they were making the right passes even if it didn’t result in an assist.  They have a lot of players that looked like they had been there for years.

·         There were a few times the Warriors seemed lazier in transition, which was weird since they looked like such a good team at other points.

·         LeBron looked incredible out there; he had 34 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and shot 5-11 from 3.  He seemed to be willing this team along for a while.

·         I was surprised to see Juan Toscano-Anderson come into the game and end up guarding Anthony Davis posting up on him…that must have been a switch.  That said, Davis was amazing, scoring 33 points on 15-26 shooting with 11 boards. 

·         It felt really weird watching Curry struggle from the 3 and see him drive so much.  He might have had a triple double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists), but he went 2-8 from 3 and 3-13 from 2.  The 2’s probably were a bit ill-fated considering he would drive in and meet [insert whichever great defensive Lakers big man is on the court at that moment] in the paint.

·         When Russell Westbrook had the ball, it looked like the James-Davis-Westbrook trio might work, as Westbrook had nice passes on back-to-back plays involving James then Davis cutting.  When he didn’t, he just stood there.  This is why I don’t think the trio will work.

·         I was surprised that Westbrook didn’t seem to look for his own baskets as much.  I get that he had a bad shooting night (4-13), but he didn’t seem to hunt for looks or even play as aggressively as normal.  I think there will be more chaos that ensues in future games.

·         All I can say about Jordan Poole:  wow!  Okay, I can say more; he scored 20 points on 8-18 shooting, played so well with the Warriors, and was absolutely fearless driving in against the Lakers’ big men.

·         That was a rough game scoring for any Laker not named LeBron James or Anthony Davis.  Their second top scorer was Carmelo Anthony, who had 9 points on 3-9 shooting.  The Lakers will not be a top-6 team if this is a frequent occurrence, but I don’t think it will be.

·         I can’t say I expected Nemanja Bjelica to be this involved offensively in game 1.  In 26 minutes of the bench, he scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting and had 11 rebounds and 4 assists.  He also led the way with a +20.

·         I thought based on how he looked in preseason and physic that Otto Porter was in better shape.  On back-to-back plays he was outran while on defense so I’m glad they didn’t play him more than 12 minutes; he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up after that.

·         Another minor note but I’m glad Moses Moody got some playing time.  He only played 6 minutes, but I think he could be a major contributor later on.

 

And with that, the NBA is back!  How did you like the games?  What were some things caught your eye during them?  Let me know in the comments!