NBA upsets on opening nights

If opening night’s games weren’t exciting enough, day 2 of the NBA couldn’t be missed. 28 teams battled it out on a night which saw many old faces debut for their new teams. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for the Brooklyn Nets, Dwight Howard for the Houston Rockets and Jrue Holiday for the New Orleans Pelicans were few of the many.

Not many nights pass in the NBA when there isn’t an upset and these first two days were no different.

Los Angeles Lakers bench stun the Los Angeles Clippers

The Lakers bench came to the party on opening night!

Seventy-six points.

That’s how much the Lakers bench totaled against the Clippers, outscoring their counterparts by a huge margin of 42 points. Xavier Henry, Jordan Farmar and Jordan Hill rose to the occasion and were key contributors among the Lakers bench that went on a 33-20 run in the fourth quarter.

Henry finished with figures of 22 points and 6 rebounds, Farmar chipped in with 16 points and dished 6 dimes while Hill finished with 12 points and 8 boards rebounds, of which 7 were off the offensive glass. None of the Lakers starters had a great game barring Pau Gasol. In just 24 minutes played he had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Clippers started this encounter at Staples Center as favorites, yet the game was a close match all through the first 39 minutes till the Lakers bench made that run in the fourth. Although they lost the match by a decent margin of 13 points, by no means was this a bad performance by the Clippers.

Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan both finished with double-doubles with Paul having 15 points and 11 assists while Jordan had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the night. 3 other players for the Clippers in Jamal Crawford, Blake Griffin and J.J. Reddick finished in double figures.

The Lakers bench might not come up with such a performance again but they certainly bought their A-game on home floor to stun not just the Clippers but many supporters across the globe.

Carter Williams carries Philadelphia 76ers past the defending champions Miami Heat

Michael Carter Williams stole the show on debut in a near quadruple double performance

Ever heard of Michael Carter Williams?

Not surprised if you hadn’t heard of him before he made his debut against the Miami Heat this Wednesday.

A 11th overall pick, he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers along with Nerlens Noel. With figures of 22 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists and 9 steals, to say that Carter Williams was impressive is an understatement. His performance has many predicting him to be named Rookie of the Year; well it’s too early to say that.

Whether he wins it or not, defeating the defending champions while scoring efficiently and nearly putting figures of quadruple deserves to be the called one of the greatest debuts ever. He is only one among 4 in the history of the league to 20+ points and 10+ assists on debut.

Let’s get to the game.

Just like their game against the Chicago Bulls the Heat seemed rusty early and allowed the 76ers to go on a 19-0 run to start the game. They finished the first quarter trailing by 19.

However the game got close in the fourth quarter after the heat piled on 80 points in the second and third quarter combined. Late in the fourth with 5 minutes to go, the Heat led 107-99, off a dunk in transition by Lebron James.

Then, to the surprise of many, supporters in the Wells Fargo Center included, the 76ers locked defensively and shut the Heat offense to go on 10-1 run with two minutes to play. Clutch free throws by game MVP Carter Williams took the score to 114-110 with 8.5 seconds to go.

Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes had crucial games for Philadelphia scoring 26 and 22 respectively. Meanwhile for the Heat, James finished with double double figures of 25 points and 13 assists and Chris Bosh contributed with 22 points and 10 boards on 8-13 shooting from the field.

How the season turns out for the 76ers would be too early to predict but opening night surely belonged to them.

Cleveland Cavaliers spoil Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s debut for the Brooklyn Nets

Lot of positives from the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers- Andrew Bynum makes his return and they win on opening night against the Brooklyn Nets

Andrew Bynum returned, a balanced offence and All-Star Kyrie Irving had a near triple double. The Cleveland Cavaliers had everything going their way on a night when Paul Pierce was to make his debut for the Brooklyn Nets along with Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry.

With their big acquisitions in the off-season, the Nets were considered and predicted to be a top 5 team in the east this season. However their opening night was ruined by the Cavaliers who had seven players scoring in double figures and Earl Clark registering 9 points.

Brook Lopez and Paul Pierce kept the Nets in the game scoring 21 and 17 respectively with Pierce shooting 3-4 from beyond the arc. Kevin Garnett fell two points short of another double double performance scoring 8 points along with 10 rebounds to surpass Reggie Miller for 14th place on the NBA all-time scoring list.

Although Kyrie Irving’s near triple double performance can be considered the driving force behind their win, it was Jarrett Jack whose 12 points that kept the Cavs in the front seat when Irving sat out a major part of the first half due to foul trouble.

The game was a hard-fought battle and the teams were tied at 91 when an Anderson Varejao jumper from the free-throw line with 28.1 seconds remaining followed by four free throws from Irving sealed the win for the Cavs.