The 2017-18 NBA season officially began on Tuesday, but there’s nothing more representative of the mayhem of the league than a preposterous Wednesday with something like a dozen games, many going simultaneously. In that spirit, here are 11 things that happened Wednesday we did not see coming.
11 things we did not see coming on the NBA’s first big night
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
1. The Nets scored 131 points on the Pacers ... and lost! We did not see that coming.
2. Stanley Johnson went 0 for 13 from the field. We did not see that coming.
3. Markelle Fultz is really shooting free throws like that. We did not see that coming.
4. The Boston Celtics are 0-2. We did not see that coming.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the early leader for MVP. We did not see that coming.
6. The Suns lost by, uh, 48 points in their season opener. We did not see that coming.
7. Nerlens Noel was a perfect 6 for 6 from the field, had a team-best +9 plus-minus, was not in foul trouble and ... sat the final six minutes of a narrow Mavericks loss. We did not see that coming.
8. Chandler Parsons got booed in Memphis. We did not see that coming.
9. Red Panda dropped bowls. We did not see that coming.
10. DeMarcus Cousins had seven blocks. Sev-en. We did not see that coming.
11. Ekpe Udoh got 13 minutes for the Jazz. We did not see that coming.
12. The Minnesota Timberwolves collapsed down the str—no, wait. We totally saw that coming. Strike that one.
SCORES GALORE ...
... AND SO MUCH MORE
The Celtics expect a full recovery for Gordon Hayward, though he is unlikely (obviously) to play again this season. He delivered a video message to Boston before the home opener. Surprising everyone, Kobe Bryant delivered the best support message. I wrote up four reasons Celtics fans should remain optimistic despite this injury.
Nikola Mirotic’s facial injuries sound horrific. The Bulls gave Bobby Portis an eight-game suspension. Some have suggested Chicago should have waived Portis. My take is that you should decide what the maximum punishment you’d give your most valuable player for this infraction would be, and extend that to the guilty party. Would the Bulls waive Lauri Markkanen had he done this? Nope. So you can’t do that to Portis.
[in sing-song] John Wall poster dunk!
Interesting: Doc Rivers explains why he thinks Chris Paul left.
Carmelo Anthony opens up about his relationship with Phil Jackson.
Nice piece from Vincent Goodwill on what the NBA has learned from the NFL’s protests.
This is like a Men In Black dunk from Giannis. He dunked on Aron Baynes so hard that the dunk also erased the memory of the dunk from Aron Baynes’ mind. I’m impressed.
Before their home opener, the Spurs played a video about equality and social justice ... and received roaring approval from fans.
The Rockets are still figuring out how to use Chris Paul. Unfortunately, there was no additional work on that Wednesday: he sat out with soreness.
WHO GOT NEXT?
You fiends can grab Bulls at Raptors at 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass. The masses will find TNT’s doubleheader: Knicks at Thunder at 8, Clippers at Lakers at 10:30.
Be excellent to each other.
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