NBA in Threes: Early observations from opening week

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NBA Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James and Anthony Davis (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Welcome to NBA in Threes where we rundown some notable happenings in the league and recent games three days at a time

NBA in Threes has been designed to be flexible in its delivery of NBA news.

NBA Box Scores
- Think of the box scores like free throws. They’re quick, easy and they give you a little sumpin’ sumpin’.
NBA Tidbits
- Tidbits are your field goals inside the arc. You’re going to get a little more info and some Tweets relevant to the day. It’ll have a little more substance than the box scores.
NBA Game Analyses
- Game analyses are like shots from range. It’s still designed to be a quick read individually but it will be a better value.

Opening night saw the Toronto Raptors defeat the New Orleans Pelicans (sans Zion Williamson) in overtime. And the Battle of LA kicked off with the Los Angeles Clippers defeating the Los Angeles Lakers even though Paul George did not play.
All offseason, I’ve felt like of any team in the league this season, the Lakers may have the highest potential to be disappointing based on expectations alone. Seeing them not be able to handle the Clippers without Paul George, seems like a bad sign for the Lakers to me. Especially when the Clippers got off to such a slow start.

On the other hand…

Kyrie Irving did work in his debut game with the Brooklyn Nets dropping 50 points in 38 minutes to go along with seven assists and eight rebounds.

https://twitter.com/auxiliarythings/status/1187286777482100737

I loved seeing Lauri Marksmanen… I mean Lauri Markkanen go off or 34 points in the Chicago Bulls opening night loss to the Charlotte Hornets
And speaking of the Charlotte Hornets… really? There were some impressive stats for charlotte in that game, no doubt. They drained 23 shots from range on 52.3 percent shooting and totaled 41 rebounds and 28 assists as a team. But I don’t think it’s over the line to say it’s a touch early for this tweet. I mean, three teams with records less than .500 beat them into the playoffs last year. Just sayin’.

Consider this a warning, @NBA.#AllFly pic.twitter.com/barFeCIrO8
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 24, 2019

Also, this happened. I know it’s not technically NBA related but I think you’d agree, it’s worth looking at.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1187279292759044097

One of the big questions in the season opener between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets was will Russell Westbrook and James Harden be successful playing together the second time around? In the case of most new teammates, the expectation is that it will take a little while to become accustomed to each other. As these two are old new teammates, it feels like the process should be expedited. The official NBA Twitter account provided a snapshot of how it went. What you don’t ger from the summary is the fact that Harden 14 of Harden’s 19 points came at the charity stripe. Now, I’ve always been of the opinion that points are points but Harden going 2-13 from the field?! YIKES!

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1187603443596304386