Orlando’s Pick 1 Paolo Banchero has shined on debut to already draw huge praise.
Plus the Grizzlies and Knicks battled out an overtime thrill and more in a stacked day two on the NBA calendar.
Catch up on all of the day’s action in our NBA Wrap!
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Warriors & Celtics start with a win | 02:53
PAOLO BREAKS LEBRON RECORD IN DAZZLING DEBUT
Orlando’s Pick 1 Paolo Banchero has shined on debut with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks despite his team falling to Detroit 113-109.
With it Banchero surpassed LeBron James as the highest scoring debut from a Pick 1 since the NBA-ABA merger in 1975.
He also became the first No. 1 pick since James to have 25 points, five rebounds and five assists on debut since James.
“I left a lot of points on the board, like three lay-ups missed, some shots I feel like I could have made, so a lot to work on,” Banchero said post-match, per ESPN.
“But I wasn’t disappointed with the way I played.”
Pistons coach Dwane Casey said of Banchero: “He’s going to be a problem in our league for a long time.”
Elsewhere for Orlando, Franz Wagner (20 points) and Jalen Suggs (21 points) also played well in the loss.
Pistons recruit Bojan Bogdanovic came up big in the win with 24 points on debut for his new side, while Cade Cunningham posted 18 points and 10 assists and rookie Jaden Ivey added 19 points.
GRIZZLIES OUTLAST KNICKS IN OT
It was valiant. It was guts. It wasn’t good enough. Certainly not the first half and not in overtime.
The Knicks had chances to overcome a 19-point deficit, opportunities late in regulation and overtime to overcome Ja Morant and the Grizzlies. When the game was there for the taking, the big play eluded them at both ends of the floor.
Julius Randle fouling out early in the extra session proved crucial, as did RJ Barrett’s ugly 3-of-18 shooting performance. Jalen Brunson missed all three of his shot attempts in overtime. The result was a frustrating 115-112 overtime loss to the shorthanded Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
Tyus Jones’ tie-breaking 3-pointer with 47.7 seconds provided the deciding margin, as the Knicks missed their final four shots including Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Brunson’s layup gave the Knicks their first lead since the early going with 3:32 left in regulation, only for Memphis to respond by converting on five straight possessions. The Grizzlies went up four on Morant’s three-point play following a Steven Adams tip back.
The Knicks got within one on an Isaiah Hartenstein three-point play with 28.9 seconds left, but Morant answered with a left-handed drive. Brunson then set up a game-tying Cam Reddish left-corner 3-pointer and drew a charge in the lane on Morant with 0.5 seconds to go, forcing overtime.
After a slow start, Brunson performed well — finishing with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Hartenstein added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Randle notched 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Cam Reddish’s 22-point showing. Morant led all scorers with 34 points and nine assists.
The Knicks got themselves back into the game on the strength of a good third quarter. The offence functioned its best in the stanza, and the defence slowed down the Grizzlies. After Mitchell Robinson picked up his fourth foul early in the quarter and the Knicks down 18, the ball-moving, rim-protecting, court-spacing Hartenstein spurred a comeback as they outscored Memphis by 12 over the final 10 minutes of the period.
Randle’s left-wing 3-pointer made it a three-point game, and the large crowd was hushed.
As the Knicks’ offence faded upon the starters return, settling for too many jumpers and missing seven of eight shots at one point, Memphis ripped off a 12-2 run. Morant sank a pair of 3-pointers in the burst and closed it with a behind-the-back feed in transition to Brandon Clarke that extended the Grizzlies lead to 14.
Barrett saw large chunks of Morant, and could do little to slow him down. The Knicks tried Brunson on him, and he got into foul trouble. The other potential option, Quentin Grimes, was inactive due to a lingering left foot injury.
When the Knicks went underneath the screen, Morant hit from distance. When they played up on, he went right by them and created chaos in the paint, leading to open 3-pointers for his teammates. He forced defensive breakdowns on his own.
-Zach Braziller from the New York Post
ZION, INGRAM SHINE IN STATEMENT
Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined for 53 points and the New Orleans Pelicans blew out the Brooklyn Nets 130-108.
It was a particularly promising performance from Williamson, who was at his best with 25 points, nine rebounds and four steals in a return from an injury-savaged season.
Ben Simmons meanwhile had a forgetful Nets debut, registering four points and fouling out in 23 minutes, while Kyrie Irving was also quiet with 15 points.
Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 32 points, but not enough of his teammates were up for the fight.
JAZZ SHOCK NUGGETS
The new-look Utah jazz have produced arguably the biggest upset of the first two days of the new NBA season, defeating the Denver Nuggets 123-102 in Salt Lake City.
It came behind a true even contribution across the the board, with Colin Sexton’s 20 points leading seven Jazz players in double figures as new Jazz coach Will Hardy recorded his first win.
Utah was widely tipped to be among the lowly-ranked teams and in the race for likely No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama after moving into rebuild mode after off-loading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in the off-season, while the Nuggets are considered one of the favourites to come out of the West in the playoffs.
So it’s a less than ideal start for Michael Malone’s side, which was boosted by the returns of Jamal Murray (12 points) and Michael Porter Jr (15 points, seven rebounds).
Reigning back-to-back MVP winner Nikola Jokic had 27 points, six assists and three steals in a quiet showing by his lofty standards.
GOBERT SHINES IN WOLVES DEBUT
Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who was acquired by Minnesota from Utah in the off-season, drained a big basket to end the third quarter and tipped in a D’Angelo Russell miss with less than three minutes remaining to help the Timberwolves to a 115-108 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gobert finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves to have an instant impact on debut, while Jaden McDaniels (19 points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks), Russell (20 points) and Anthony Edwards (11 points, eight boards, seven assists) were also important.
Meanwhile Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like he hadn’t missed a beat despite missing the pre-season through injury, filling up the stat sheet with 32 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Josh Giddey put up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists.
ELSEWHERE …
All-Star guard Dejounte Murray scored 20 points and came up with five steals in his Atlanta debut to help the Hawks beat the Houston Rockets 117-107.
In Toronto, the Raptors spoiled Donovan Mitchell’s debut for Cleveland, scoring 32 points in the fourth quarter as they rallied for a 108-105 victory.
Pascal Siakam scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and O.G. Anunoby scored 10 of his 18 points in the final period as Mitchell’s 31 points proved too little for the Cavs.
All RESULTS
MAGIC 109 PISTONS 113
WIZARDS 114 PACERS 107
ROCKETS 107 HAWKS 117
PELICANS 130 NETS 108
BULLS 116 HEAT 108
CAVALIERS 105 RAPTORS 108
KNICKS 112 GRIZZLIES 115
THUNDER 108 TIMBERWOLVES 115
HORNETS 129 SPURS 102
NUGGETS 102 JAZZ 123
MAVERICKS-SUNS
TRAIL BLAZERS-KINGS
