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If there’s one thing sports fans are good at, it’s overreacting to one game.
We excel at drawing big-picture conclusions from a very small sample size. Well, we’ve had one game for six NBA teams, that’s enough for me. It’s time for some overreactions to opening night in the NBA, a triple-header you could see on NBC and Peacock.
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Wemby who? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will win MVP
Fans and media have sounded ready to anoint Victor Wembanyama as the best basketball player walking the face of the Earth. He looked like it in stretches during last season’s playoffs (even if he faded in the NBA Finals), and at 22, he is poised for another leap (or just a Wemby-sized step) forward.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would like to have a word with us.
SGA looked every bit the best player on the planet, scoring 32 points in the Thunder’s statement win over the Spurs to start the season. As a reminder, that’s his record-extending 141st straight 20+ point game. And Gilgeous-Alexander is not a one-way player — he had three blocks and three steals against the Spurs. He was doing it on both ends.
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That’s what MVPs do.
Maybe Wembanyama will ascend to the mountaintop, but on opening night he was 1-of-13 from the floor and finished a -2. If and when he gets to the top of that mountain, Wemby is going to find SGA already standing there.
Philadelphia is going to win the East
Sure, the 76ers have a lot of new talent, but how will it all fit together? Well… just like old times?
Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points, Jaylen Brown had 19 points and was a team-best +17 on the night, Joel Embiid played 33 minutes with 13 points and 11 boards, and LeBron James was the glue guy bringing everything together with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Sure, the 76ers can score, but can they defend? They held the reigning-champion Knicks to less than a point per possession on the night, with a 98 defensive rating.
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If the Knicks are going to become the first team to repeat as champions since the Curry/Durant Warriors, that road in the East looks like it goes through Philadelphia after opening night.
Pistons’ Javonte Green will…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/way-too-early-2026-27-094258671.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-21 09:42:00
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