Two exciting matchups marked the start of the NBA season with the Boston Celtics vs the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers. These teams played on Oct. 22 and were handpicked to kick off the season.
The league is popular among students, including Chico State senior Ankit Vankineni.
“I’m really excited for this NBA season. I’ve been watching highlights of last season in anticipation,” Vankinen said.
The defending champion Celtics picked up right where they left off as they collected their championship rings from last season. Their offense dominated in the first quarter, as Jayson Tatum and company unleashed a brigade of three pointers, ending the quarter 43-24.
Though Jalen Brunson and Deuce McBride provided some offense in the second quarter, the Knicks were unable to close the gap, still trailing by 20 for most of the first half.
The Knicks struggled, as their offense looked significantly worse than Boston’s. Many of their players lacked offensively; Mikal Bridges, a significant offseason acquisition, went 0 for 5 from the field in the first half.
The half ended at 74-55. The Celtics tied their franchise record of total three pointers scored in a half, making 17 of 32.
The second half was pretty much the same story. The Celtics ended up comfortably tying the NBA record for number of three pointers made in a game, hitting 29 of them.
The Celtics got their rings and won the game 132-109. Jayson Tatum was the standout player in this game, scoring 37 points and only missing four shots and one free throw.
The Timberwolves vs Lakers started out much closer. Though Rui Hachimura helped the Lakers gain a small lead at first, the Wolves ended the quarter leading 23-22.
However, the Lakers took back a steady lead in the second quarter. The Lakers as a team looked much more fluid and connected than the Timberwolves, and Lebron James and Anthony Davis were dominant forces.
The Lakers continued to hold a roughly 10-point lead in the third quarter, with a great offensive and defensive performance by Anthony Davis. The Timberwolves kept it close towards the end of the quarter though, with the Lakers leading 82-74.
The fourth quarter was largely the same; the Lakers held a small but consistent lead while the Timberwolves stayed in the game. Nobody besides Anthony Edwards provided much of an offensive presence.
The final score was 110-103, marking the first Lakers opening game win since 2016.
Both the Knicks and Timberwolves looked fairly uncomfortable offensively in these games, perhaps because the teams made a blockbuster trade with each other at the very end of the offseason.
Though there were few lead changes in these games, the NBA remains exciting as ever.
Dominic Curcuro can be reached at [email protected].
