NBA opening night overreactions for each game: Wembanyama could be NBA’s best player, Knicks fix huge problem

Opening night isn’t a completely accurate look into how an NBA season is going to progress. Last year, the Hornets beat the Rockets on the road, for instance, and both of the Tuesday matchups were won by teams that would eventually lose to those same opponents in the playoffs — the Lakers to the Timberwolves and the Celtics to the Knicks. But it very often offers us our first true glimpse into the trends and storylines that ultimately wind up defining a given season. 

Sure enough, a year ago the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped 136 points in a 30-point decimation of the Toronto Raptors, for instance. They had the best offense in the league across a 64-win season while the Raptors tanked. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat Nikola Jokić on the road and then took his MVP award. Opening night is the first real opportunity for players and teams to show the world what they spent the summer working toward. Sometimes it takes a while, as it did for the Rockets. Sometimes it’s immediate, as it was for the Cavaliers.

We have a whole season to offer measured takes on reliable samples. Opening night is for overreactions. So let’s go through each of these games in search of one extreme takeaway. Will any of these pan out? Well, if last year is any indication, some of them will, and others will look ridiculous. This is the NBA. It’s an ever-changing league, and it’s better to be too early on these changes than too late.

NBA opening night overreactions

Mavericks-Spurs: Victor Wembanyama is the best player in the world

Look past the numbers for a moment. I know that’s going to be difficult on a night in which Wembanyama scored 40 points, pulled in 15 rebounds, blocked three shots and made over 70% of his shots, but his stat lines are always gaudy.

What we saw on Wednesday was different.

This was no longer a baby bird spreading its wings. This was a dragon laying waste to any who would dare oppose him. The entire theory of the Dallas Mavericks was to build a team so gigantic that nobody could score against it. Wembanyama made it look easy. How many 7-5 centers have you ever seen pump fake into a drive that ended in a reverse dunk? How about blocking an opposing center on one end and then crossing him up for a four-point play on the other?

He’s running the floor like a small forward now, but he’s added enough bulk to bully centers. When Anthony Davis is so lost against you that he has no option but to foul, you know you’re doing something right. Maybe Nikola Jokić is still more valuable. Maybe Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hoists the trophy again at the end. But Victor Wembanyama’s season 3 premiere made the impossible look routine. No one else on Earth can do what he does. If he isn’t the best player in the NBA today, he will be in the very near future.

Timberwolves-Trail Blazers: Minnesota is still light on playmaking

Yes, the Timberwolves won, and yes, Anthony Edwards was spectacular with 41 points, but this game was closer than the Timberwolves likely suspected in part because this team remains light on playmaking. They assisted on only half of their 42 field goals and committed 19 turnovers. With Donte DiVincenzo replacing Mike Conley in the starting lineup and Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. expected to take on bigger roles this season, the Timberwolves are seemingly moving away from traditional point guards. Yes, 41 points from Edwards are nice. He’s capable of playing hero. But given the construction of this roster, the Timberwolves need more than one assist out of Edwards if they’re going to get by the many Western Conference teams that are better than the Blazers.

Kings-Suns: Signing Russell Westbrook was a mistake

It’s a bit cliche to blame Russell Westbrook, especially after a single game. The problem here is less what he did on the court, though a 2-of-8 shooting night in 19 minutes was hardly encouraging. The issue here is what he does to Sacramento’s roster. He got on the floor before Keon Ellis, the only reliable defender the Kings have, and that in turn limited Ellis to only 13 minutes. Meanwhile, the Kings closed their loss to the Suns with Dylan Caldwell, a two-way player, at center. Westbrook’s slot on the team probably should have gone to a defensive-minded big man. The roster is enormously unbalanced. They have too many players who need the ball and not enough frontcourt players to do the dirty work. Westbrook’s reputation affords him playing time that this specific roster needs to be spending elsewhere. 

Clippers-Jazz: The Clippers are too old

The Clippers built the oldest roster in NBA history this offseason, and they likely felt justified in doing so because of how well their older players fared a year ago. James Harden was an All-Star and Kawhi Leonard looked like his peak self down the stretch, so they added Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez to their basketball remake of The Expendables. Well, what happened when they tipped off on Wednesday? They were run off the floor by the younger, more athletic Jazz.

The Clippers scored just eight fast break points in defeat, and the starting trio of Leonard, Beal and Harden combined for only 30 points. Aside from Derrick Jones Jr., there isn’t much athleticism to speak of here. The Clippers need to out-execute opponents largely on skill, and if there is any slippage whatsoever from where those players were a year ago, that’s going to be very tough. They came out completely flat on opening night, and if that’s a sign of where they are physically now, things are only going to get harder in the dog days of the schedule.

Bulls-Pistons: Detroit doesn’t have enough shooting

Malik Beasley, as a reserve, was responsible for more than 30% of Detroit’s made 3-pointers last season. To put that number into perspective, Stephen Curry was responsible for around 32% of Golden State’s 3-pointers in 2021, the year he played without Klay Thompson. The Pistons hoped that Duncan Robinson would be enough to replace his shooting, but Robinson hasn’t made 40% of his 3s since 2021 and he missed all five of his attempts on Wednesday. Robinson is virtually unplayable when his shots don’t go in, but the Pistons have no choice.

Considering how much they have invested in Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, who are non-shooters, they need Robinson to space the floor properly. They got the worst of both worlds on Wednesday, as Robinson did little for their offense while suffering defensively. Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham spent the game driving into traffic en route to an 8-of-24 shooting performance. The Pistons are at least one shooter short right now, but given how historic Beasley was a year ago, even that might not be enough to lift this offense.

Grizzlies-Pelicans: Ja Morant will return to the All-Star Game

Ja Morant more or less lost the 2023-24 season to injuries and suspension. He was back on the court last season, but injuries continued to weaken him, and so did a revamped offense that all but removed the pick-and-roll. His 11.4 paint points per game and 6.4 free throw attempts per game both represented meaningful dips from his 2022 peak, when he made his first All-Star Game. But with Tuomas Iisalo now locked in as head coach and an offseason of recovery behind him, Morant put up 20 paint points and eight free-throw attempts against the Pelicans on Wednesday, en route to 35 points on the night.

Everything Morant does offensively flows out of his ability to get to the basket and get to the line, and Iisalo has reconfigured the offense to maximize his opportunities to do so. This version of Morant is an All-Star, and if he can play like this when half of his team is injured, he’ll only get stronger as the season progresses.

Bucks-Wizards: Khris Middleton is back!

The Bucks are ineligible for any overreactions by virtue of having played the Wizards. We’re not even going to pretend to take anything away from their opening performance. But a former Buck that was on the other side Wednesday? That’s fair game. Can you guess the last time Khris Middleton scored 23 points in an NBA game? I’m almost certain you can’t, because it wasn’t even last season. No, it was Game 4 of Milwaukee’s five-game loss to Indiana in the 2024 postseason.

A variety of injuries tore Middleton down to the point that he was essentially just salary filler in the Kyle Kuzma trade last February. But Middleton looked healthier than he has in quite some time with his 9-of-14 shooting performance against the Bucks on Wednesday. He can’t get to the rim like he used to, but he looked comfortable finding his patented mid-range looks against the Bucks, and if that persists, he immediately becomes a pretty interesting trade or buyout candidate come midseason.

Hawks-Raptors: Toronto can build a viable offense without shooting

The 2024-25 Toronto Raptors never scored more than 133 points in a game. They scored 138 on opening night this season, and here’s the kicker: They only shot 7-of-25 from 3-point range. This is Toronto in a nutshell. Dating back to the Nick Nurse years, they always lagged behind in shooting and playmaking, but made up for it by getting to the basket and scoring in transition. The Raptors had 34 fastbreak points on Wednesday to go along with 86 points in the paint. This is a weird group of players, and one that will probably need some mixing and matching from a lineup perspective. But they’re big, athletic, and relentless defensively. They’ll generate enough easy offense on that alone to survive, even if the shooting never quite comes around.

76ers-Celtics: Philadelphia belongs to the guards now

Joel Embiid played 20 minutes, scored four points against arguably the NBA’s thinnest front court and ultimately got benched for crunch time. His movement looked completely compromised. It should be panic time in Philadelphia, except VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey just announced themselves as perhaps the most unguardable backcourt in the NBA.

The pair combined to make 12 3-pointers on the way to their 74 points, and that shooting makes their elite speed that much more lethal. Philadelphia’s big man may be slow and relatively unathletic at this stage of his career, but the 76ers can build a new identity around their backcourt’s skill and dynamism. A star was born in Edgecombe on Wednesday, and Maxey reaffirmed that status for himself after an injury-plagued tanking year.

Knicks-Cavaliers: Mike Brown and Leon Rose fixed the bench

If Tom Thibodeau had his way, his teams would rely on only five players. Maybe four. Luol Deng can play two positions at once, right? Mike Brown was hired in part to make the most of a bench built with limited resources, and he did just that in their 119-111 win against Cleveland. The Knicks used 11 players against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, and with Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart injured, that meant every player with a standard contract except Pacôme Dadiet and Mohamed Diawara saw real action. The result? The Knicks got 35 points from their bench after averaging a league-low (by a country mile) 21.7 a year ago.

Every reserve except Landry Shamet had a positive plus-minus. Ariel Hukporti stood out starting in Robinson’s place early on thanks to his energy and rebounding, but just about everyone did their part for the Knicks in their season-opening victory.

Magic-Heat: Orlando will end its 13-year streak as a bottom-10 offense

Death, taxes and bad Orlando offense. The Magic have ranked in the bottom 10 offensively 13 years in a row. That’s what compelled their offseason blockbuster for Desmond Bane, and against a stout Miami defense, Bane absolutely delivered. His 23 points obviously helped, but really, just having a threatening shooter on the floor changed everything for this offense. After ranking 24th in the NBA with 45.8 paint points per game a season ago, the Magic dropped 56 on a Heat frontline led by star defender Bam Adebayo. If Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero can take the next step with this newfound space, the Magic won’t just avoid the bottom-10, they might even sneak into the top 10.

Hornets-Nets: Charlotte has its centers

The Hornets traded Mark Williams twice and Nick Richards once, and to the naked eye, it looked like they just didn’t seek viable replacements. Well, it turns out, they’ve managed to fill the position for pennies on the dollar. Second-round rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner and former two-way player Moussa Diabaté combined to give Charlotte 23 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in their 136-117 win over the Nets. Diabaté was a plus-minus darling on the defensive end a year ago, and Kalkbrenner won four consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, so while they were pretty unheralded by typical NBA standards, the Hornets were justified in betting on them. That bet paid off on Wednesday. At least for now, they can roll forward with this duo.

Thunder-Rockets: Alperen Sengun is an MVP candidate

It’s been burbling all summer, especially at EuroBasket, where he drew comparisons to Nikola Jokić. Well, Tuesday was proof of concept. Alperen Sengun was for large stretches the best player on a court with Kevin Durant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, ultimately scoring 39 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the Houston loss. He made a career-high five 3-pointers — he’d previously topped out at three, and even that was a rarity. His finishing at the rim was a bit suspect last season, but he made four of his five restricted area shots against the Thunder. He led both teams with seven assists, no small feat considering he’s playing on a roster with very little ball-handling or shooting.

We came into the season not knowing how Houston’s offense would fare without Fred VanVleet. Tuesday gave us our answer: Through Sengun, and it’s going to vault him into some very lofty conversations.

Lakers-Warriors: Not even skinny Luka can fix this roster

Here’s a distressing statistic: 97 of the 109 points scored by the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday were scored or assisted on by Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves. Not great. Neither is a home loss when your best player has a 43-point, 12-rebound, nine-assist stat line. The Lakers shot 8-of-32 from deep, distressing in percentage of course, but also in volume given how much JJ Redick has talked about hoisting 3s.

The perimeter defense was a mess, fouling Jimmy Butler constantly and doing little to impede Stephen Curry’s movement. Deandre Ayton’s debut was everything Blazers and Suns fans warned it could be. He demanded the ball too much, didn’t get to the line, didn’t rebound and didn’t really mix it up near the basket much at all. Getting LeBron James back will help, but if the Lakers can’t get the role players right, no amount of star power will matter.