NBA Opening Night 2022

Opening night in the NBA commenced with a beautiful and poetic tribute to the late and great Bill Russell, truly fitting for his status as a NBA legend.

A few years ago, I wrote an about Jayson Tatum during his rookie year and since then, he’s been one of my favorite players to watch. The 2017 first round pick has consistently proven to be quite the athlete and opening night for the Boston Celtics was no different.

Even more incredible is watching the dynamic duo formed between Tatum and teammate, Jalen Brown. What a force! Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76’ers was like watching the reincarnation of Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, the pair that helped build the Celtics empire in the 50’s and 60’s. The way Tatum and Brown feed off each other on the court, as well as the leadership that they display collectively, is the stuff that makes basketball post-Kobe worth watching.

James Harden had one helluva night, putting up a total of 35 points, 7 assist for the 76’ers. Tyrese “Mad Max” Maxey, who single handedly managed to average 20 points per game in last year’s playoffs, had an equally impressive night. He’s an underrated player that could potentially be a weapon for Philadelphia as the season progresses.

The offset was Golden State’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite their loss, it was a decent game that certainly left room for improvement for the Lakers. Lebron was playing like it was his first year in the league, which in itself is amazing in itself, because 20 years in and King James is showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. But of course, being an individual powerhouse doesn’t matter much in terms of wins and losses. Russell Westbrook came with a Ready to attack energy that Anthony Davis was able to match and the trio played well together, however it still wasn’t quite enough to defeat Golden State.

We’re already familiar with the depth that the Warriors have as a whole, as well as what Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green can accomplish as a unit. Steph Curry was phenomenal, leading his team at an astonishing 33 points and, per usual, shooting mostly from the field, his favorite place on the hardwood. Patrick Baldwin Jr., this year’s first round pick, is one of the many key names to keep an eye on this season, alongside James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody. The fact that Warriors played 11 guys last night and they all had an impact speaks volumes. This just further proliferates the idea that the Warriors continue to uphold an inflatable standard in the league that makes it extremely challenging to objectively bet against them.