Jimmy Butler scored 31 points, Stephen Curry added 23 and the Golden State Warriors overcame Luka Doncic’s 43-point performance to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-109 on Tuesday night in both teams’ season opener.
LeBron James missed a season opener for the first time in his 23 years in the NBA, watching from the Lakers’ bench. The top scorer in league history has sciatica that is expected to sideline him until mid-November.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 17 points while the Warriors largely shut down the Lakers apart from Doncic who scored 40 points for the 47th time in his NBA career and the third since joining the Lakers.
Doncic added 12 rebounds and nine assists in his first season opener with the Lakers, but the Slovenian superstar was 2 of 10 on 3-point attempts as Los Angeles lost its season opener for the ninth time in 10 years.
Curry began his 17th season with just three 3-pointers while ceding major offensive roles to Kuminga and Buddy Hield, who hit five 3-pointers.
Butler made all 16 of his free throws, and Curry hit a 3-pointer in the final minute for his first points of the fourth quarter.
Austin Reaves scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter after struggling with foul trouble.
Golden State opened the second half with a 19-4 run to open a lead that grew to 17 points. Reaves led a fourth-quarter rally, trimming the Warriors’ edge to 105-99, but LA couldn’t close get closer.
Draymond Green scored only eight points and got an early technical foul while sitting on the bench, but his 3-pointer with 3:33 left stopped the Lakers’ surge.
Deandre Ayton had 10 points and six rebounds in his Lakers debut, while Marcus Smart had nine points while Al Horford scored five points in his Warriors debut, hitting a 3-pointer on the first shot of his 19th NBA season.
Thunder get perfect start over ex-Oklahoma star Durant
Thunder fans got everything they wanted with a ring ceremony, a championship banner unveiling and a win over ex-Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, hit two free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give the Thunder a 125-124 win. It was just the sixth time an opening night game went to double overtime and the first time since 2005.
Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s scoring champion, had just five points at halftime but finished with 35.
Thunder fans still haven’t forgiven Durant for leaving them in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors, their biggest rival at the time. Durant had 23 points and nine rebounds in his first game with Houston after being traded in the offseason. He was booed loudly during pregame starter introductions, and that continued for much of the game.
Durant fouled Gilgeous-Alexander with the Rockets leading 124-123 in the second extra period. The crowd cheered as Durant exited the game with his sixth personal foul. Gilgeous-Alexander made both free throws for the decisive points.
Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. missed a 19-foot jumper as time expired, and the Thunder survived in the season opener for both teams.
With the score tied at 115 in the closing seconds of the first overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander missed and Durant rebounded and tried to call a timeout that the Rockets didn’t have.
The Thunder noticed and tried to alert the officials, but no call was made and the game went to a second overtime. Crew chief Zach Zarba said after the game that none of the three officials saw Durant call the timeout, so it was not granted.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
