The NBA season began on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and with it, Oklahoma City Thunder’s title defense. The Thunder will lean on reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lead their title defense. They opened NBA action this season with a double-overtime win against their regional rival the Houston Rockets. Jimmy Butler led the Golden State Warriors with a 119-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the next opening day game.
The rest of the league played the following night, Oct. 22. The results of the Wednesday night slate of games are as follows: the New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers; the Charlotte Hornets beat the Brooklyn Nets; the Orlando Magic beat the Miami Heat; the Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks; the Philadelphia 76ers won in a close one against the Boston Celtics 117-116; the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Pelicans; the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards; the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers; the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks led by star Victor Wembanyama who led the team with 40 points; the Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings; the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers; and lastly, the Chicago Bulls beat their rival the Detroit Pistons 115-111.
The Bulls have struggled with Head Coach Billy Donovan outside of the 2021-2022 season when they lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Ignoring that season, the Bulls have had a record of 150-169, and have frustratingly ended each season with losses to the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Fans are hoping that former first-round pick Matas Buzelis takes a major step forward in his second year. His improvement could play a key role in boosting the Bulls’ chances of making the playoffs in a tough Eastern Conference. Furthermore, Noa Essengue, this year’s first round pick, did not get any minutes in the Bulls’ season opener. Still, most Bulls fans hope the season, at least, does not end with a loss to the Raptors.
The season has not been short of exciting games with a thrilling NBA Finals rematch on Thursday, Oct. 23. The Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in a double-overtime thriller further solidifying their place as one of the best teams in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not let up in the game scoring a career-high 55 points. Nevertheless, it was a very impressive showing from a Pacers team missing their star player Tyrese Haliburton who ruptured his achilles in game seven of the NBA Finals.
There have been many notable early season performances. For instance, Luka Doncic continues to make NBA fans question why the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers. In the first two games of the season he has scored 43 points and 49 points, respectively. Additionally, Aaron Gordon, a power forward for the Denver Nuggets, had an unfathomable 50 points in Denver’s loss to the Warriors. This is quite surprising considering he has averaged under 15 points per game the past two seasons.
Ultimately, as teams get into a groove, it will be interesting to see if any new teams rise as major playoff contenders.
