Two new-look teams, the rebuilding Knicks and the rebuilt Thunder, both made their season debuts on Thursday night. The Thunder won, 105-84.
This one went about exactly how you thought it’d go. The game’s opening possessions were blatant microcosms of the expectations for these franchises. New York’s ended in a shot clock violation. Oklahoma City’s resulted in a 3-pointer by Carmelo Anthony off of a Russell Westbrook offensive rebound and kick-out.
It’s poetic justice that the Knicks first game after shipping out its former divisive star, comes in the new city they sent him to. Anthony spent six and a half seasons in the Big Apple, before being traded in September, mercifully ending all the drama surrounding his stint with the team.
Adorned in his now-signature hoodie, Anthony said in the post-game interview, “it felt good to get out here and start this new journey that I’m on…Close that chapter, everybody can move on in their own right direction.”
Westbrook, after his historical season, picked up right where he left off. Fresh out of the box, the reigning MVP recorded the 80th triple-double of his career, putting up a 21-10-16 line in 33 minutes. It’s going to be fun watching Westbrook assimilate his two new stars into the offense. Having more help to shoulder the load, he still got to the rim at will and shot an efficient 7-of-12 from the field.
On a somber note, the fledgling season’s early trend of injuries continued. Michael Beasley, the pure, unbridled package of confidence and exuberance, entered the contest, drained a 3-pointer pure as the morning dew, then turned his ankle as he landed. He wouldn’t return, but fingers-crossed that your favorite player’s favorite player won’t have to miss much time.
Takeaways
Defending opposing point guards is gonna be a BIG problem for the Knicks. Sure, this was an especially bad example with the immense talent disparity of going against the real-life Tasmanian Devil in Russell Westbrook, but New York’s point guard group was atrocious.
I already proclaimed them as one of the worst positional units in the NBA, and everything they showed on Thursday night just galvanized that take.
Starter, Ramon Sessions had an unfathomable plus/minus of -23. Ron Baker was consistently overmatched and looked like he’d struggle at your local YMCA. Then the extremely green first-round rookie, Frank Ntilikina, got his feet wet by going 0-2 in seven minutes of floor time.
It can only get better from here. I hope.
This is the most well-rounded team the Thunder put out since 2012. Don’t @ me. There was concern about how this group would fit together with the conglomeration of new talent. The questions swirled around whether putting together three players who need the ball could be conducive to winning. Those questions quickly got extinguished.
Westbrook got everyone involved and deferred more than he has in the past, getting Anthony and Paul George 20+ shots each. The Eastern Conference refugees already looked comfortable in their new home.
Steven Adams was a perfect 5-5 and did Steven Adams things all night. Andre Roberson still couldn’t hit water if he fell off a boat, but his offensive woes are less amplified on a team with three alpha scorers to lean on. Plus, this iteration of the Thunder has a deeper bench than in years past, complete with the right complementary players.
The bottom line: this Oklahoma City team makes sense. With the two big pieces they added over the summer, it will take some time for them to truly jell. But so far, so good.
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Kristaps Porzingis looks ready to be “the guy.” The most important thing for the 2017-18 Knickerbockers is the development of their unicorn and his ability to become a number one option for a winning club. If opening night was any indication, Porzingis appears ready for the enhanced role. In his 38 minutes of action, he wound up with 31-and-12, in spite of increased defensive attention and a flood of double-teams.
Porzingis demonstrated great footwork in the post, but he definitely needs to get stronger as he was getting pushed around in the lane. All in all though, it was a great showing. On a sloppy night, highlighted by a mess of turnovers, Porzingis brings a ray of hope to what’s been a dark basketball situation.