Brooklyn Nets made light work of depleted Golden State Warriors on opening night

The Brooklyn Nets looked mightily impressive on opening night

In a game that was never close, the Brooklyn Nets demolished the Golden State Warriors 125–99 on the NBA’s opening night for the 2020-21 season. The Nets came out firing on all cylinders, led early on by Kyrie Irving, scoring 24 of his 26 points in the first half.

The Nets would not need much more out of Irving as they took a 63-45 lead into halftime. The second half was more of the same from the Nets who look good collectively as a unit that can go 10 players deep. The Nets shot 45.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range as a team. They made it look downright easy against a Warriors team that is short-handed with no Draymond Green on opening night due to a foot injury and Klay Thompson being out all season with an Achilles injury.

Stephen Curry dropped a double-double for the Warriors with 20 points and 10 assists. But the Warriors will need far more out of Curry if they plan to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference this season.

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Warriors rookie James Wiseman struggled early on but finished his first NBA start with 19 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes on the floor. One thing that was clear to see early on for the Warriors is that they must go back to relying heavily on defense if they are going to win games at a high rate this season.

Kevin Durant added 22 points, six rebounds, and three assists for the Nets in 25 minutes, as he sat a good portion of the second half as this game was over at halftime. Caris LeVert came off the bench in the sixth-man role and scored 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists. If LeVert continues with the second unit, he will make a run at the sixth man of the year award. No doubt about that.

The Nets’ ball movement flowed freely in the first half and looks as if this offense will be hard to handle on most nights for teams around the league. One area the Nets need to improve on is ball security having committed 20 turnovers in the game.

For the Warriors, it may take a little longer for this team to gel and begin performing at the level most expect them to even without Klay Thompson. This isn’t necessarily a championship level, but once Green returns, his experience and leadership should be a huge help for a team that is playing more young players than they have in some time.