Last season’s NBA title finalists have gotten their, respective, follow-up campaigns off on a winning start. The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors have won on the NBA’s 2022/23 opening night, sinking the 76ers and the Lakers in the process.
Well, out of the two losing teams, one of them put in a great performance in the face of a loss, while the other didn’t.
Obviously, I’m talking about the Lakers in regard to the team that failed to impress as they did end up losing by 14 points, they were outscored 64-57 in the final two quarters, they shot less than 44% in both FG% and 3-point % (they only hit 25% on 40 attempts), and LeBron James was the only Lakers player to hit 30 points (he had 31) in the game.
But, let me start out with the more thrilling of the two games: the Celtics vs. 76ers.
After a very touching tribute to the late, great Celtics legend, Bill Russell, the C’s got off to the best possible start by not only fouling every 76ers player that moved, but also allowed James Harden to go off early. Okay, that was obviously sarcastic, but it’s true the Celtics were horrifyingly undisciplined in the 1st Quarter.
Al Horford received a flagrant foul on Harden barley two minutes into the game for “stepping into the shooter’s (Harden) landing space”, even though it was Harden who stepped on Horford as the Celtics center went to block his shot.
Even worse, Noah Vonleh, who was Horford’s backup, was manhandled by Joel Embiid, who finished the night with 26 PTS, 15 REB, and 5 AST. Contrasting those stats with Vonleh’s 2 PTS, 2 REB, and 0 AST, it’s clear that was a little bit of a mismatch.
Anyway, like I said earlier, James Harden had a fantastic night for Philly as he posted 35 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST, 9/14 from the field, 12/12 from the free throw line, and 9/14 from 3. Simply put, last night was his best ever in a Philly’s jersey as he not only led all 76ers in scoring, but also matched Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s game high 35 PTS.
Speaking of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, these two really showed why they are the best young “Dynamic Duo” in the NBA today. Brown was lethal from the floor, going 14/24 and having a +7 rating, while Tatum matched him in shooting efficient and defensive awareness too.
Along with his 35 points, he also had 12 defensive rebounds, the highest among all Celtics players.
And it was these two’s utter explosions of offense, along with good nights from Marcus Smart (14 PTS), Grant Williams (15 PTS), and new acquisition Malcom Brogdon (16 PTS), the Celtics were able to overcome the early 76ers lead to win for interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.
It was a great game between two Eastern Conference heavyweights, which may wind up being a future Eastern Conference Finals matchup.
And if that does end up being the case, then I can only see the C’s making it through that series.
What definitely won’t be a Western Conference Finals matchup is the Warriors vs. Lakers. As I mentioned above, aside from LBJ (31 PTS, 14 REB, 8 AST), Anthony Davis (27 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST), Russell Westbrook (19 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST) and Kendrick Nunn (13 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST), no one else on the Lakers had more than 6 points.
You don’t need me to tell you that is abysmal and will not get the Lakers in the Play-In Round, let alone the NBA Finals as is every Lakers fan’s expectation. This team looked inept and clueless on defense, while bereft of any ideas on offense. I mean, how do you miss 30 3’s in a single game!
And when you give the Warriors, who were firing on all cylinders as Steph Curry had 33 PTS, Klay Thompson had 18 PTS, and Andrew Wiggins had 20 PTS, that many chances to score from failed possessions, you’re bound to lose every single time.
The good thing for the Lakers and the 76ers is that it’s only Game 1, with 81 more to come.
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