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Opening night was a real spectacle and despite all the hype being around the father and son duo, I was most intrigued by JJ Reddick and his offensive tricks.
First play of the game you already see the motion in the offense, with Lebron setting a good screen on the wing the diving hard to the basket, which forces Gobert to rotate, and from there the ball movement to the corner, and a swing to Hachimura…
And the very next play Rui exploded…
His phenomenal start was further emphasized on the defensive end. Watch the activity helping on the Randle back down and then the great recovery…
The Lakers defense led to another Lebron bucket and this time, it was a way better finish.
But despite the highlights, and the crowd going crazy, Minnesota managed to keep up with the Lakers, led by Anthony Edwards with 8 first quarter points, and he showed the crowd some of his flash.
Second quarter comes along and you see the 2-3 zone that the Wolves are in, but check out D’Angelo Russel literally sneaking his way to the middle of the zone, forcing a response from the back line, and delivering a fantastic pass to the cutting Hayes for the dunk.
Then, moments later Reddick runs horns with the sharpshooter Knecht on the weak side. And watch him take off setting a back screen for Lebron, clearing out the perimeter for a handoff and a screen for himself. Reid has to come out and contest it, so this split second of help allows Hayes to cut inside, and the great pass by Knecht for the throwdown.
The next possession it’s almost the exact same thing with Dalton screening again for Lebron of the ball and sprinting out around the Jackson Hayes pick and this time, the defender is trailing him so he can fire away from downtown…
These terrific offensive possessions would spark a 27-6 run by the Lakers, sending the arena into delirium.
And this built enough of a cushion for Bronny to come into the game in a historic moment.
And he had his 1 chance for a bucket…
He couldn’t hit this one for the fans, but senior sure gave them something to cheer for.
The Lakers are up by 13 at the half, and JJ starts off the second half with some more motion into the offense.
Austin Reeves runs across 2 picks on the so-called Iverson cut, and Lebron follows, setting a hybrid between a screen and a slip, which creates hesitation for the defense, and at this moment he is obviously open for the bounce pass, which creates a 2 on 1 between him AD and Gobert. So it’s a perfect execution as we let it roll, for a beautiful alley oop dunk.
Thing is, it was mostly AD for the Lakers in this quarter. On both ends of the court.
And despite a terrific quarter of 13 points and 5 rebounds, Minnesota started to get into a rhythm and went on a mini run towards the end.
This gave me hope for an exciting finish but maaan, Anthony Davis went god mode in the 4th and he was not going to let the Lakers lose on opening night.
36 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks a blockbuster performance from AD.
I gave this game a 6.6 on Rate Game which was obviously lower than what Lakers fans rated it.
And if you’re new around here, Rate Game is an app that I’m a part of, made for the real fans of the game.
In a world polluted by betting and gambling, Rate Game is a pure diary where you keep track of what games you watched and which ones were the best. I watch a ton of games every season so this is great for me to look back on. We now have a hide scores feature so you can only see the ratings and decide which game to watch in the morning based on the scores. This feature is gamechanger.
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Moving on to ring night in Boston where it was all smiles before the game. I, on the other hand, had high hopes for my brand new Knicks. Boy I had no idea what I was in for.
First play of the game we got the high screen for Tatum and Towns is not willing to commit all the way and risk getting blown by. So JT gets a practice shot and he swishes it.
The high big men screens would be the Knicks nemesis, as we see another one here and the great maneuver by Kornet to switch the side at the last second, fooling the defender and opening up another shot for Tatum for another three.
JT said during preseason that he was tinkering with his shot, and some bozo made a youtube video doubting him. Of course then he responds with a 15 point first quarter going 4 for 6 from downtown. This opened up a barrage of threes by the Celtics, collectively going 10 for 17 from long range in the opening period alone.