Regular season basketball is finally here. NBA teams are ready to begin another long journey with the ultimate goal of capturing the NBA title. In the NBA's opening night slate of games, the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers at home in a convincing 126-117 victory in which Boston's star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 70 points. In the second game, the Golden State Warriors took care of the Los Angeles Lakers pretty easily at home in a 123-109 win after raising their fourth championship banner.
In Golden State's dominate home victory, Stephen Curry led the way with 33 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Curry shot 45% from the field as he did not have his best shooting performance from the three-point line after making just 4-13 shots from behind the arc. Forward Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and Klay Thompson scored 18 points while Jordan Poole had 12 points off the bench.
In a loaded Western Conference, the Warriors look ready to defend their title as they really do not have many holes in terms of their team. They have the continuity championship teams have along with the star power to match with pretty much every team they will face.
On the other side, the Los Angeles Lakers walked away from this game looking like they still suffer from the same issues that plagued their season last year. They looked lackluster on the defense end and their three point shooting was atrocious. Looking at the box score would give fans an impression that LA's big three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook played really good games, but that was not quite the case. LeBron was 4-13 at one point and while AD was imposing his will throughout the night, he was struggling mightily with his jumper in many spots throughout the night. While Russell Westbrook's stat line looks fine, he missed a few wide open looks at the rim and air-balled a three pointer.
If the Lakers are going to make up for a season to forget from last year, fixing their issues on the defensive end and knocking down more open shots will be the key. LeBron James noted after the game that their roster is not built to beat teams with the three ball and that is probably the case, but 10-40 from three is not going to get it done.
It is a big season for the Lakers this year as Darvin Ham is in his first season as head coach, LeBron is in his 20th season, Anthony Davis is trying to re-establish himself as a top five player and Russell Westbrook is looking to revitalize his career. In terms of competition in the Western Conference, the Lakers will have to deal with the Warriors, Clippers, Nuggets, Suns, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Mavericks and even the Blazers could do some damage if they are healthy this year. As the season goes along, the Lakers will have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves as a team that should be taken seriously. However, after last night, Lakers fans are probably more concerned than optimistic about the team's chances this year.
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