Opening Night Reaction/Recap and In-Season content

Future Content and what to expect throughout the season. 

Obviously watching all teams will be challenging given time restraints and lack of hours in a day so my plan is to try and watch anywhere between 1-2 games a night and keep tabs on games on the weekend through NBA league pass. The challenge is it will take me a few weeks to get caught up on different teams and familiarity with their offensive and defensive schemes. 1-2 times a week I will give the audience a breakdown of a premier matchup on national T.V  and an under the radar game on league pass throughout the week. I will do recaps of anywhere between 4-6 games a week and try and dial in on schemes of teams by watching a quarter of other games as well. Obvious this means teams at the bottom won't be watched as much, but I will still do updates on teams about every month or so. At the end of each week I will do what I call a 5 things list. This will involve 5 things I saw watching games throughout the week along with any news/Injury new updates throughout the week. I want to give everyone a good overview of the league, this will also allow me to provide fans of all teams with analysis on their teams. This is a promise from me to you guys reading this I will give my best to try and provide good analysis for casual and advanced NBA fans. Enjoy the 2024-2025 NBA season 

Celtics vs Knicks

The start of the game was quick for both teams. Obviously the Knicks roster has changed a lot more than the Celtics roster, but both teams have a lot of chemistry together. They both looked in midseason form in the beginning, but that's when the Celtics went on a quick run to push the lead to 18-11 in their favor. The Celtics come out blazing hot from the three point line. The matchups were the interesting part for me. Noticeable the Celtics had Jrue Holiday on Karl Anthony-Towns. Having this matchup allowed the Celtics to switch any ball screen involving KAT. This also allowed for Al Horford to guard Josh Hart. Hart seemed to be playing the 5 on offense with KAT on the perimeter. KAT also posted up Jrue Holiday, an action I liked a lot. KAT needs to be a little more efficient from the post by making passes and getting good shots around the basket, but I liked the beginning looks of it. Jaylen Brown started guarding Brunson and Derrick white took turns guarding him. He had an efficient night getting into the paint and creating for others. The other matchup that wasn't surprising was Al Horford guarding Josh Hart. Hart is not as much a threat of shooting as others and this something the Celtics do typically with Horford. After the first quarter the Celtics led 43-24 they made 10 threes. The Knicks shot 55% from the floor, but the barrage of threes was too much for the Knicks to handle. The other part of the Celtics offense involved how well they moved the ball and moved from set to set. Last year a knock on the Celtics could have they did not transition well from 16 seconds to 9 seconds on the shot clock. A lot of times they held the ball and didn't get a good look. Mostly this involved Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They got different types of pin down screens into handoffs and zoom actions very well. Using Jrue Holiday as a screener went very well for the Celtics while also keeping the others out on the arc helped give them an advantage while they swung the basketball around. Halftime saw the Celtics take a 74-55 lead into the break. Jayson Tatum was excellent in the first half. He finished with 25 points on 9/12 shooting from the floor and 6/8 from three. He also added 6 assists as well. Brunson had 15 points on 6/7 shooting, Deuce McBride showed good flash off the bench with 14 points on 5/5 shooting, and KAT added 12 on 5/8 shooting. The third quarter did gift the Knicks with a better sight from Mikal Bridges. Bridges struggled in the first half ending with only 2 points.  His shot looks to have a hitch in it, which is something he didn't have while playing for Brooklyn and Phoenix. Bridges needs to be able to knock down shots for the Knicks if they want to challenge the Celtics in the future. The Celtics shot 17/32 from 3  in the first half. In the third quarter the Celtics started to show teams what makes them so dangerous when they are shooting well. The Knicks played drop coverage and level of the screen with KAT in pick and rolls. They also didn't let Brunson switch onto Tatum and Brown. This caused the Knicks to be put into defensive rotation way too frequent and let the Celtics move the ball well. Horford typically popped after screening and Tatum hit him and swung the ball to the corner for White, Holiday, or whoever was sitting there. Overall, the third quarter showed teams the Celtics are impossible to guard when they get rolling from three. They've fully embraced Mazzulla's philosophy of getting more threes than their opponents, a common theme in the modern NBA. The final score ended 132-109 resulting in a Celtics win. They did not set the NBA record with threes made. They tied it with 29 and missed their final13 attempts while trying to break the single game record. My final thoughts on the game are that the Celtics are really good. Sometimes a team plays really well and there's nothing you can do about it. The Knicks looked good on offense. I think they probably need another shot creator to help Brunson out. Bridges and Anunoby didn't look comfortable creating against the Celtics defense, but it's only the first game. I'm excited for the Knicks offense because putting Brunson, KAT, Bridges, and Anunoby on the perimeter allows for a lot of space. Deuce McBride showed he can create offense off the bounce and knock down shots on the dribble and create for others. Tatum ended with 37 points on 14/18 shooting from the floor and 8/11 from three  along with 10 assists. All five starters for the Celtics had at least 3+ threes. Brown and White had 23 and 24 points. Brunson ended with 22 points while Bridges got going with 16 points on 7/13 shooting from the floor. McBride also chipped in 22 points as well for the Knicks. The Celtics will play the Wizards on Thursday while the Knicks will play the Pacers on Friday. 

Lakers vs Timberwolves

The second matchup of the night saw the Los Angeles Lakers matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves. These two teams will be vying for a playoff spot throughout the entire year. The game however, was a very good matchup. The Lakers hired J.J Redick to lead them this year. The Lakers did not make any new roster changes leaving Redick with no turnover. Redick wanted the Lakers to shoot more threes, run more set plays, and crash the glass more often.  The Lakers showcased these threes aspects of their game very well. The Timberwolves went to the conference finals last season and make a big trade landing Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl Anthony-Towns. The Timberwolves felt added Randle would give them a second shot creator next to Randle and DiVincenzo would give them more shooting. The first quarter started out very slow. Both teams dug in defensively, but the Lakers seemed to get their identity across very early. Nearly every time down they were running some type of set play to get a good look. A lot of this involved Anthony Davis getting a lot of the offense at the mid post.  Redick wanted to make it a point to run the offense through Davis. The Lakers ran a lot of drag ball screens, followed by some pin downs for their shooters. Overall, Redick's identity got across well. The Timberwolves however close the gap well at the end of the first quarter. Randle made a lot of nice plays and seemed to operate well next to Anthony Edwards. Edwards took a lot of threes in the beginning of the game, something he did in the preseason too. Overall, he looked comfortable shooting and attacking. I'd like to see him and Randle run more sets together. though. The Timberwolves led after the first quarter 23-22. The Lakers jumped out on the Timberwolves early in the second quarter. They rebounded the ball really well and turned the Timberwolves over on offense. Anthony Davis was a force defending ball screens and the Lakers had good help side rotations. Dalton Knecht checked-in for the Lakers mid way through the second quarter. Redick really likes the rookie and he helps provide the Lakers with much needed shooting. Nickell Alexander-Walker checked and played well for the Timberwolves. Both Reid and DiVincenzo started on the bench for the Timberwolves, and struggled against the tough Lakers defense early on in the game. Bronny James checked in with 4 minutes left to go to make NBA history. He and Lebron James stared the court of the first father-son duo. The big notice in the second quarter was the Lakers intensity on the glad they dominated the boards and turned the Timberwolves over to get some easy baskets.  The Lakers lead got as big as 19 points before the Timberwolves cut into it. The Lakers lead at the break 55-42. Anthony Davis was a monster on the glass and helped provide the Lakers with a much needed edge. He led the way with 12 points and Hachimura chipped in 11 points. Davis also added 7 rebounds. The Lakers had 10 offensive rebounds and 19 attempted threes. The Timberwolves were lead by Edwards who had 14 points on 5/11 shooting and 3/7 from three. The Lakers outshot the Timberwolves 53-39 in the first half and outrebounded them 27-23. Third quarter continued much of the same trends as the first half many of the Lakers buckets came from set plays and dominating the offensive glass overall the Lakers offense looks good overall. I like how Lebron has played off the ball and been a really cutter and letting Davis take control of the offense. I think in the future if Lebron needs to take matters into his own hands obviously he can, but right now the Lakers are making all the right reads and all the rights plays. The Timberwolves came out of the half very flat. Edwards helped lead the charge, but the turnovers are very questionable. I understand the Timberwolves want to play faster, but they need to play smart while doing that. I think involving Edwards and Randle in specific actions together is a good start. DiVincenzo looked more comfortable as the quarter got along, but the Timberwolves need to gmfigure out how to generate some more offense. The Lakers also experimented with Davis and Jaxson Hayes in at the same time. This lineup really shows how much pressure Redick wants to put on the opposing teams to rebound the ball. Overall, the Timberwolves just couldn't manage to string together possession to close the gap it saw the Lakers take an 82-74 lead into the fourth quarter. Davis showed his dominance throughout the entirety of the quarter and the Lakers look good overall moving the offense through him. Defensively the Lakers are doing well forcing the Timberwolves into some contested shots. They are playing really hard and not allowing easy drives and shots at the basket. This is forcing Minnesota and particularly the role players to beat them from the outside. This shown to be successful for the Lakers so far. The 4th was a back and forth affair the whole time. The Timberwolves made a quick run and were able to cut into the lead before the Lakers finally put them away. Anthony Edwards was very aggressive in the final period, but Anthony Davis and the Lakers defense were able to get enough stops to keep the Timberwolves at bay. The final score ended up being 110-103 resulting in a Lakers victory. Anthony Davis had a monster 36 point 16 rebound game. He dominated whoever was guarding him though out the entire game. Anthony Edwards ended with 27 points on just 10/25 shooting from the floor and 5/13 from 3. My final thoughts on the game would include the Timberwolves offense. Obviously it's only the first game and this is the worst the offense will look, but I'd like to see some more plays involving Edwards and Randle together. Getting down in the game quickly saw Edwards be more shot happy later in the game, but Chris Finch should look at involving plays together with his two best offensive players. From the Lakers the perspective this is exactly what you want. Anthony Davis is getting a ton of touches at the mid post area and they are running a ton of set plays. I would figure they didn't go more than 2-3 possession without Redick calling something. They still need to do a better job of getting up 3s as they only attempted 30 total on the night. The Laker defense also looked impressive as Anthony Davis afffected every shot around the basket and the switchability of everyone in the floor makes it tough to get things going. I expected the Lakers to only get better under Redick's system.