NBA Opening Week Top Moments

The NBA returned this week, and there have already been some big moments!

Here's some stuff that has happened:

Knicks Ring Night

On October 20th, the New York Knicks played their first game of the season against the Philadelphia 76ers. This was the Knicks ring/banner night, celebrating their championship form last season.

Before the game, the Knicks players all received their championship rings and raised a banner for the first time in 53 years! A nice celebration to start the season.

The Knicks lost the game 106-100.

Brunson did not shoot well in this game, so still losing by only 6 points to a team expected to be one of the best is not too bad.

Andre Drummond had an impressive debut, scoring 14 rebounds, 12 points, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in 24 minutes.

Comeback Wins

On October 22nd, the Sixers played the Cavaliers. They started the game very badly and were down by 29 points at one point in the first half. Then the crazy comeback started. They started the 3rd quarter on an 11-0 run and ended the 3rd quarter down by just 8 points. They won the game 114-106.

Tyrese Maxey had 32 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals, leading the comeback.

Joel Embiid had 7 straight points in the 4th quarter, putting the Sixers in the lead.

On October 25th, the Denver Nuggets played the New Orleans Pelicans. They were down 19 points going into the 4th quarter but came back to tie the game and force overtime. They won 141-135.

Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic both had huge performances in the comeback win.

Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals!

Jamal Murray had 42 points and 6 assists!

High-Scoring Debuts

Some great players were traded this offseason, and they wasted no time showing what they can do for their new teams:

• Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points in his Miami Heat debut, which is the most points ever by a player in their Heat debut.

  (He has had 35+ points in 2 out of the 3 Heat games so far, but they have not won any of them. Pretty much the exact reason he left the Bucks seems to be happening again...)

  
  

• Paul George had 38 points in his Boston Celtics debut, which is the most points ever by a player in their Celtics debut.

  
  

• Anthony Davis had 34 points and 12 rebounds in his Washington Wizards debut, which is the most points ever by a player in their Wizards debut.

  
  

• Julius Randle had 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in his Brooklyn Nets debut, which is the 2nd most points ever by a player in their Nets debut. (Most points in a Nets debut is Kyrie Irving with 50)

Anthony Edwards and Ty Jerome also both had 45-point games to start the season!

Injury Return

Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles 16 months ago and played his first game back on October 21st against the Pelicans. He led the Pacers to the win with 23 points and 12 assists.

Kyrie Irving tore his ACL 19 months ago and played his first game back on October 21st against the Houston Rockets. He scored 15 points on 67% shooting in 24 minutes.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 141-game streak of 20+ points ended when he scored only 17 against the Denver Nuggets on October 22nd. This was the longest streak of 20+ point games in NBA history.

That's all for now, folks! ✌️