NBA Opening Day Review

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I don’t know about you but I’m fully satisfied watching sportscenter every day! It’s playoffs in baseball, the NFL is in full swing (as is college football if you prefer to watch that), and now the NBA is back!

In case you missed the NBA’s opening day, there were two exciting games that took place yesterday: Boston Celtics v Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder v the Golden State Warriors.

Celtics v 76ers

This Eastern conference powerhouse matchup was interesting for many different reasons. The Celtics and 76ers had both been selected by many different sports analysts as preseason favorites to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. The game started off pretty slow, with a lot of the players attempting to knock off some of the rust they incurred from the offseason. Two players in particular had to take some time away from the game because of injuries: Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Irving had his 2nd knee surgery within the last few seasons. Hayward on the other hand, suffered a gruesome leg injury on opening day last season in which a bone in his leg protruded through the skin during the game. Then we have the young boy Jayson Tatum, who many are dubbing as the next Kobe Bryant. He’s only in his second year but is already performing way beyond the expectations of a 19 year old. He stole the show on Tuesday night with some highlight plays such as soaring through the lane and finishing with a tomahawk slam. Although the game started off slow for both teams, the Celtics ramped up the tempo and defeated the 76ers by 18 points.

Thunder v Warriors

The night in Oakland started with the Warriors receiving their rings for winning the NBA championship in 2017-18 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Right from the jump, the Warriors were on the Thunder, harassing them every possession. It hurt the Thunder to be without their All-Star and former MVP, Russell Westbrook, who’s out for the next couple weeks due to his 5th knee surgery since 2013. However during the second and third quarter of the game, the Thunder went on several runs to get back in the game and even took the lead at one point. A lot of their fight was led by the talented swingman, Paul George, who ended the game with 27 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals. In the end though, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant proved to be too much as they combined for 79 of their team’s 108 points. These two alone are almost impossible to take down so for me, I can’t see a situation where the Warriors don’t win another championship this season.