Opening night for the NBA was Oct. 19 and brought a lot of action. The two most prominent games were between the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Bucks picked up right where they left off last year with a 127 to 104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. This victory was led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, who put up an impressive 32 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. 

The Nets looked like a team that knew what they were doing, but could use some improvements. With Kyrie Irving being away from the team for the time being, the Nets also had to shuffle their starting lineup. The pairing of Durant and Harden with Claxton, Griffin and Harris got outscored by 11 points in the first nine minutes, allowing Milwaukee to take an early lead that they would not relinquish. 

The Lakers took on a few new faces during the off season, most notably Russell Westbrook. Westbrook scored 8 points on  4-13 shooting and minus-23 in 35 minutes which is below average for him. Westbrook is known for being one of the best players offensively, so it’s surprising to see him struggle. 

Steph Curry performed decent shooting wise on opening night scoring 21 points on 5-21 shooting. He made up for this however by getting 10 rebounds and 10 assists, leading him to his eighth triple-double of his career. 

The Warriors strong team allowed them to take a 121-114 win over The Lakers. Steph Curry led six other players to double figures, most notably Jordan Poole who was 9-9 from the free throw line and scored 20 points total.   

The Warriors and Bucks played well on opening night and the Nets and Lakers need some more practice to reach their full potential. These are some of the teams that we will be looking at as the season develops.