Let’s revisit some highlights from the two opening acts that kicked the new NBA season.
After months of anticipation, the NBA is finally back for its 2024-2025 season!
Defending champions Boston Celtics opened their title defense with a 132-109 blowout over the revamped New York Knicks on Wednesday (Philippine time), while the Los Angeles Lakers had a convincing 110-103 win over Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It’s only the start of a new season, but we’ve gotten a share of highlight-worthy moments from our two-game Opening Night slate. In case you missed the games, here are some highlights for you to revisit!
New rings, new banner for the Celtics
Clad in championship white and gold jackets, the Celtics raised Banner 18 up in the TD Garden rafters on Wednesday to immortalize the historic feat. It’s a much sweeter occasion given that the championship core led by Tatum and Brown were retained heading into this title defense.
Celtics legends such as Bob Cousy and Cedric Maxwell were also present to witness the ceremony alongside the 2008 Big 3 of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce.
Their championship rings, meanwhile, celebrated both Boston’s rich history and this team’s dominant 2024 Playoffs run. For instance, there’s the 16 emerald cut diamonds in the inner bezel to represent all their 2024 postseason victories, and the iconic TD Garden parquet floor etched in the side panels.
Check out the rest of the championship ring’s details here!
Making it rain
Boston tied the single-game record for most triples made with 29 on Wednesday, which was capped off by an Al Horford triple at the 8:54 mark of the fourth quarter. The C’s simply found their share of open looks which they successfully capitalized on against the Knicks.
The Celtics finished Opening Night with a 29-out-of-61 clip shooting from downtown, equivalent to 47.5 percent. Tatum led the three-point barrage with eight triples made, followed by Derrick White’s six. Brown hit five triples, while Holiday and Horford chipped in four and three long bombs respectively.
Talk about setting the tone for the season for these defending champs.
Finally, an Opening Night win for LA
Over in LA, the Lakers finally started the season on the right foot after dropping their last six NBA Opening Night contests. Los Angeles last won an Opening Night game in 2016, when Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell steered the Lakers past James Harden and the Houston Rockets at home.
This win also marks JJ Redick’s head coaching debut, who took over from Darvin Ham in the offseason.
Anthony Davis nabbed a game-high 36 points and 16 rebounds, while Rui Hachimura added 18 markers and five boards. LeBron James, meanwhile, chipped in 16 points, five assists and four assists to start his 22nd year in the NBA.
It’s a long season that will be filled with acid tests, but here’s to hoping that this will be a more productive campaign for the Lakers following their struggle-filled 2023-2024 season.
LeBron, Bronny make history
History was made on Wednesday when LeBron and Bronny James checked in together with 4:00 left in the second quarter before a passionate home crowd rooting for the father and son pairing.
LeBron and Bronny only played for about two and a half minutes together, but that shouldn’t take away from the historic moment. Both will have a priceless memory to cherish as LeBron goes on with Year 22, and Bronny with his rookie year in the NBA.
It’s not everyday that we see father and son play together in professional sports, and that alone is already an impressive feat.
Old faces, new places
Wednesday saw the debuts of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges for the Knicks, then Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for the Timberwolves. Bridges was an early offseason acquisition, while the Towns-Randle-DiVincenzo trio were involved in an unexpected blockbuster between New York and Minnesota.
Bridges scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting in his Knicks debut, while Towns notched 12 points and seven rebounds. Randle had a 16-point, nine-rebound statline for Minnesota, while DiVincenzo chipped in 12 points and two steals as they fell to the Lakers.
Opening Week continues in the NBA on Thursday (Philippine time), with the rest of the league set to kick off their 2024-2025 campaigns. Much like Towns with the Knicks, and the Randle-DiVincenzo pairing with the Timberwolves, we’ll be seeing much more old faces in new places as the new season continues to unfold.
And if Opening Night is any indicator, then we should expect another round of exciting action as the NBA unfolds for another season.
Banner image courtesy of the Boston Celtics on X.