Scoreboard
Hawks 113, Mavericks 87
Heat 137, Bucks 95
Warriors 115, Clippers 13
What went down
Friday morning began with a couple of blowouts. The Atlanta Hawks, boasting their young slew of wings and Trae Young, dominated the Dallas Mavericks in their debut. For their season opener, the Miami Heat got some measure of vengeance for their first-round exit in last season's playoffs and toasted their shorthanded rivals and defending champs Milwaukee Bucks.
It looked like we’d head to the weekend on the back of three drubbings as Steph Curry got the Golden State Warriors off to a blistering start against the Los Angeles Clippers. With Chase Center filled to the brim, Curry put on a show in the first quarter, making all 10 of his first shots for 28 points as the Warriors grabbed a 44-27 lead.
But the Kawhi-less Clippers have been in this situation before. Picking where they left off in their surprising Western Conference Finals run, the Clippers rode Paul George and the returning Eric Bledsoe to a 67-66 halftime lead.
Neither squad gave way in the second half, setting up another frantic finish to start the season. It came down to the final two minutes. The Clippers, leading 107-105, absorbed the first Curry haymaker triple. Bledsoe responded but Curry had drilled another gut punch from distance that put Golden State ahead, 111-109. For the knockout blow, the Warriors went to Draymond Green for an unlikely bucket under the hoop.
So @StephenCurry30 had a night...
— NBA (@NBA) October 22, 2021
💎 Named to #NBA75 before tip
🔥 25 1Q points on 9-9 shooting
🔥 45 in the game
🔥 Go-ahead triple to lift @warriors pic.twitter.com/98JFwH9lsA
To start the season, we’ve already gotten three straight days of classic games. According to advanced analytics, that’s the best way to welcome back NBA basketball.
Big-time baller
There’s nothing quite like Steph Curry feeding off a ruckus Warriors crowd. Beyond the 45 points and eight 3s on 16-for-25 shooting, Curry’s control of the volume at Chase Center needs to be tracked by Spectrum or whoever does data these days.
It’s like the crowd wills a Curry highlight with their hushed excitement every time he brings the ball up the court. Even from our seat here in the Philippines, Curry's magnetism travels as if drawing us into the moment with him.
There are still 80 Warriors games left to go and as long as Curry stays healthy, each one of those is appointment viewing.
What he said
Klay Thompson had some thoughts about the 75th Anniversary Team.
Did you see that?
The league finished unveiling all 76 members of the glitzy list today (they had to add an extra member due to a tie in the voting). From the game’s pioneers, era-defining superstars, and some of today’s best players, the list tells the story of the evolution of the league, if you look closely enough.
The best reaction from this unveiling has to be from Reggie Miller. The TNT crew caught the Indiana Pacers legend-turned-broadcaster off guard when they delivered the news to him live.
.@ReggieMillerTNT’s reaction to making the #NBA75 team is amazing 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yscp0ePJqH
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 21, 2021
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