Tobias Harris (L) and Ben Simmons (R) of the Philadelphia 76ers give each other high fives in the game against the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
More teams played their first games of the new NBA season on Wednesday. The Philadelphia 76ers crashed the visiting Boston Celtics 107-93 at the Wells Fargo Center in contest between giants and elves.
Finally. Philadelphia showed the league what their kill squad, the "Giant Five," is made up of: Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson. The average height of this lineup is over 2.06 meters tall. By contrast, the starting squad of Boston is Enes Kanter, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker, the average height of which is only 2.002 meters.
Jaylen Brown (L) of the Boston Celtcis and Al Horford (R) of the Philadelphia 76ers compete for the ball in the game at the Wells Fargo Center, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
Thanks to such differences in their sizes, the Celtics had to deal with mismatch in defense from the beginning and asked Brown to defend Horford. In order to avoid being butchered from the inside, the Celtics chose to aggressively double team or even triple team Horford or Embiid when they tried to approach the rim. As a result, the 76ers got many open shots from the 3-point line and in the middle range, but just could not make them in most of the time.
Though Boston managed to stop Embiid from having his own way in the paint, they paid the price of being called 16 fouls and gave Philadelphia 23 free throws in the first half. This was not sustainable and at the very beginning of the third quarter, Brown had to sit on the bench after committing his fifth personal foul, costing Boston a strong defender and one of their best slashers.
Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks in the game against the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
In offense, the Celtics did not find an effective solution as Embiid killed their assault towards the basket like the Great Wall. Meanwhile, both Horford and Simmons are fast and big enough to follow Celtics players after screens and obstruct their shooting. The team's disappointing 26.92 percent of 3-point rate was not helping either.
Though the 76ers were not comfortable with their offense most of the time, their huge advantage in rebounding (62-41) brought by size difference gave the team upper hand in second-chance points and fast break in transition. Moreover, as 76ers players began to bury 3-pointers at the end of the game, the Celtics saw their defense fall apart and had to accept a painful loss.
Irving started his career in Brooklyn with a 50-point game
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets makes a layup in the game against the Minnesota Timberwovles at the Barclays Center, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
Kyrie Irving almost had a perfect debut in the Brooklyn Nets as he shot down 50 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Barclays Center. However, his efforts could not stop his team from losing the opener 127-126 at home after overtime.
By contrast, Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 36 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks to help the Timberwolves claim victory in their first game of the new season. The other surprise for the team was that Andrew Wiggins who had been blamed for being last on the court scored 21 points and eight rebounds, including making 10 shots in the paint. Maybe he is finally ready to cash in his talents as people have been expecting him to do so for four years.
Drummond brings victory to Pistons with a big double-double
Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons tries to shoot against the defense of Domantas Sabonis #11 and Myles Turner #33 of the Indiana Pacers in the game at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
Though Blake Griffin did not play because of injury, the Detroit Pistons were able to leave the Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a win of 119-110 over the Indiana Pacers thanks to Andre Drummond and his 32 points, 23 rebounds, three steals and four blocks. The other major contributor to the team's victory was Derrick Rose who started off the bench and put down 18 points, nine assists in 26 minutes.
Despite the loss, the Pacers could still find some comfort from the game on Wednesday. The two players they paid big money to land (keep) this summer, Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis, both delivered performances that were worth their contracts – Brogdon got 22 points, 11 assists and Sabonis had 27 points, 13 rebounds.
Incredible 'Joker' and his trick
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets seeks teammate to pass the ball against the defense of Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the game at the Moda Center, October 23, 2019. /VCG Photo
The Portland Trail Blazers saw their 18-straight-win record in season home opener come to an end after the 108-100 loss against the Denver Nuggets at the Moda Center. The Rip City had their chance. Hassan Whiteside was unstoppable in the paint to drop 16 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks. Damian Lillard claimed 32 points and eight assists for the team as well.
Nonetheless, the Nuggets had Nikola Jokic who only needed one quarter to cast his magic. Having been called three fouls in the first four minutes of the first quarter, the Serbian big man was basically sitting on the bench during the first half. However, after warming-up, Jokic began to take over in the last quarter by scoring 16 points, including 11 in five minutes. Compared with the 20+13 double-double in 23 minutes, his two consecutive 3-pointers and one successful isolation play could better tell how important he is to the Nuggets.
Other games on Wednesday included (home teams in bold):
Chicago Bulls 125-126 Charlotte Hornets
Cleveland Cavaliers 85-94 Orlando Magic
Memphis Grizzlies 101-120 Miami Heat
Washington Wizards 100-108 Dallas Mavericks
New York Knicks 101-120 San Antonio Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder 95-100 Utah Jazz
Sacramento Kings 95-124 Phoenix Suns