NBA season-opening takeaways: Giannis, Lakers, Ant-Melo, Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton and first impressions

Opening Night (part deux) is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s a lot of basketball, but you see that’s the best part of the experience — it’s a lot of basketball.

This is the part where I remind you I used to a be a video coordinator, which can lead to some psychotic tendencies when it comes to watching the sport. I like to have a rotation, games I know I want to watch and flip between those. You can play your way in, you can play your way out. I will absolutely find myself stuck on a game that I just did not see coming.

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After absorbing a (whole lot) of basketball on Wednesday night, my biggest takeaway would be to tap in early this year. Tell a friend to tell a friend. The NBA Cup has generally done a good job of enhancing the underrated competitive aspect of the early season. But watching teams work to forge their identities and find success from Day 1 is very fun to see. Here’s what caught my eye:

Giannis debuts in Miami, but Wolves were on the prowl

If you wanted fireworks, you got them in Miami. There was no hesitation from Giannis Antetokounmpo in his Heat debut. He started the game with a midrange pull-up, then unleashed his trademark dynamic and dangerous play in transition. He had zero fear attacking anyone in a blue jersey (including Rudy Gobert): 14 points in 8 minutes in the first quarter, 21 points in the first half. The vibes were high in Miami.

But the vibes were also high for the Timberwolves. This is a unit that refreshed its identity this offseason, and Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball made sure to put a stamp on that in their first game together — a 131-106 victory. The duo combined to make 14 3s, while the Heat made only 8. Edwards had 21 points in the first half and ended with 45 on the night.

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LaMelo allows Edwards to play off-ball more, and Edwards being able to fly off a stagger or off-ball screens makes him more sudden in the half-court. You know he’s going to attack, now you’re not always certain where or how. The tricky part is he can and will still take and make the shots that show he does not care about your defender or your scheme. And he did that…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-season-opening-takeaways-giannis-lakers-ant-melo-damian-lillard-tyrese-haliburton-and-first-impressions-141712918.html

Author : Steve Jones

Publish date : 2026-10-22 14:12:00

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