The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets appeared underwhelming to open play, while the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks seem primed for postseason runs.
The NBA season is yet to even be two games old for certain teams in the league, but that doesn’t stop those around basketball from having instant reactions to the play of those coming up short of expectations already. Opening tip-off featured the Boston Celtics easily defeating the new-look New York Knicks and recent trade acquisition Karl-Anthony Towns as well as the Los Angeles Lakers picking up its first victory of the year over Towns’ former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both the Knicks and Timberwolves seemed as if each needed time to build chemistry with its newest talents, but there were still plenty of underlying concerns noticed throughout the matchups, especially in New York’s case. Minnesota was able to rebound with a close victory over the Sacramento Kings, putting aside some of the doubts formed after its first game.
New York’s squad is meant to be built around strong perimeter defense from players such as Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, but the Celtics ended up setting a record for most three-pointers made in a single NBA game. Bridges’ shooting form seemed to be off the entire game, an issue that stemmed in the preseason after coming over from the Brooklyn Nets. Jalen Brunson, the Knicks star point guard, still managed to shoot an efficient 9/14 from the field for 22 points, but was left helpless as his teammates combined to shoot 10/28 from three. The stat would be even worse if one were to exclude the four attempts made by Miles McBride as Bridges, Anunoby and Hart were 2/13 on their own.
New rosters always take time to gel, mainly proven by the Miami Heat’s start after adding LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh prior to the 2010-2011 season. The main difference between that Miami squad and this Knicks team is that James, Wade and Bosh were three of the best players in the sport at that time and needed to learn how to put aside their egos to play winning basketball. In New York’s case, Brunson is already the featured scorer and the trio listed previously have never really been number one options on their previous teams.
Losing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency and Mitchell Robinson to injury before the season provided no assistance for the Knicks, either, as Towns is the only true center remaining on the roster outside of fringe role player Jericho Sims. After building a reputation of grabbing offensive rebounds, finding second chance opportunities and playing strong defense, New York will have to figure out what its new identity of basketball is if it hopes to be a title contender in the Eastern conference this season. The Knicks are still second in odds to win the conference at +350 on William Hill, but seem more than a step behind Boston, listed at +125, even so early on in the season.
The Denver Nuggets also appeared to have serious concerns after its first matchup of the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. While the Thunder are meant to be one of the top teams in the entire NBA, listed behind the Celtics at +600 to win the title, Denver still came off as a team with numerous deficiencies left to be solved. Reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nikola Jokic was in his usual dominant state accounting for 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, but had to watch on as his teammates failed to create any offense on their own accord. The stifling defense of Oklahoma City allowed only 87 points by the Nuggets, and Denver shot a horrid 7/38 from beyond the arc to showcase the lack of depth it rosters this season. Jokic is still surrounded by the core that won the NBA championship in 2022-2023 including Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., but the Nuggets have allowed for key role players to depart the franchise in recent years.
Whether it be Bruce Brown or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Denver features significantly less defensive and shooting capabilities than it did two seasons ago. In an attempt to fill the holes left behind, the Nuggets brought in former MVP Russell Westbrook to run the bench unit, but the former Thunder point guard shot 2/10 from the field and 1/6 from three. Denver has tried to develop young contributors like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson to help supplement its star players, but the improvement has not been seen up to this point. While the Nuggets are still +1100 to win the title and +525 to win the Western conference, the team has plenty to figure out if it hopes to make a run similar to 2022-2023 in the postseason this year.
Where the Knicks and Nuggets struggled in its opening games of the season, the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks appeared prime to be serious contenders in its respective conferences. The Magic were able to dispel the Miami Heat in a battle of Florida-based squads, as Orlando forward Paolo Banchero took charge of the game with a 33-point and 11-rebound performance to start his third season in the league. Orlando made the Playoffs last season behind Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, who just received a $150.5m extension prior to play beginning.
The team was eliminated in the first round after a competitive seven game series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but have bolstered its rosters with the addition of Caldwell-Pope and continued development from Suggs, Jonathan Isaac and Anthony Black. Orlando is already -240 on William Hill to win the Southeast division over Miami and currently hold the sixth-best odds to win the Eastern conference at +2000. While it would be a tad early for the Magic to make a run that deep into the postseason, taking the team’s over 48.5 wins at -120 seems like a very intriguing wager for bettors after the Magic’s first game of the season.
Dallas kept most of its team together after making a Finals run last season before falling to the Celtics in five games, but did make one big addition that has already looked to pay off after the first game. Three-time NBA champion and former Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson joined the Mavericks on a three-year, $50m contract through free agency in the offseason. In his first game with Dallas, Thompson scored 22 points and shot 6/10 from three-point range, displaying the natural fit he should have alongside superstar Luka Doncic and point guard Kyrie Irving. The team may face some defensive issues with the three on the court at the same time, but Thompson managed to also generate three steals in the contest, helping to somewhat put those worries to bed.
While Dallas does seem ready to compete with the Thunder and other top Western conference teams this season, its first game was against a San Antonio Spurs squad that is more focused on the future than competing for the Playoffs. The Spurs do have budding superstar Victor Wembanyama, but are looking to surround the 7’3” Frenchman with more young talent as opposed to signing veterans to big contracts in an attempt to win now. The Mavericks have the experience of making it all the way to the Finals, however, and could combine that knowledge with the title-winning pedigree of Thompson to cash in on its +900 odds on William Hill to win the championship and +550 odds to win the Western conference.
