Category: Sports News

The Dallas Mavericks (0-1) dropped their season opener to the Houston Rockets (1-0) on Wednesday, losing 128-110 in Houston. Cooper Flagg led all scorers with 32 points, while Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 30 points each.

It was a disappointing start to the season for the new look Mavericks, as Houston jumped on Dallas early and it was a blowout before halftime. The Mavericks improved significantly in the second half, but the damage was already done — despite their improved play after halftime, the Mavericks never got the lead to single-digits, attempting to claw back from a 37-point deficit.

There was a lot of bad, but some good too. Here are three numbers that stood out from the season-opening thud.

38-12: Houston’s second-quarter scoring advantage

Believe it or not, the Mavericks actually outscored the Rockets if you combined the first, third, and fourth quarters of this game. Unfortunately for Dallas, basketball is played with four quarters and the one quarter the Mavericks lost big, they lost *really* big.

Houston blitzed Dallas to the tune of 38-12 in the second quarter, and that really decided the entire game. The Rockets repeatedly got out on the fast break, as the Mavericks offense coughed up turnovers and missed three pointers, giving the Rockets ample opportunities to run out in transition. The Rockets finished the game with 29 fastbreak points, with the majority of those picked up in the second quarter.

4: Marcus Sasser 3-pointers

In his debut for the Mavericks, DFW native Marcus Sasser looked outstanding, scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Sasser was responsible for over a third of the Mavericks’ made triples on Wednesday. The team made just 11 total in the loss.

It was a bright spot in an otherwise dreadful shooting night for the Mavericks. Dallas went 11-of-37 from three (30 percent), so Sasser’s shooting was a sight for sore eyes. Sasser has a quick release and isn’t gun-shy — he had a nice pull-up make in the fourth quarter while bringing the ball up in transition, and the Rockets failed to stop the ball. Sasser also had a nice three-point play the hard way to go along with his hot shooting from outside.

It’s just one game, but it’s the type of performance that demands more minutes. Might we suggest a few of the minutes that new head coach Dusty May gave to Zaccharie Risacher? May played a lot of guys tonight and was attempting to mix and match a bunch of different lineups. Hopefully, whenever May settles on a set rotation, Sasser is a big part of it.

44-33: Rockets’ rebounding advantage

Talking points about the Mavericks strengths and weaknesses this summer didn’t really touch on the Mavericks rebounding — with Dallas sporting such a large (literally) roster, with forwards and bigs plentiful, I guess no one really considered the team could be bad at rebounding.

It’s just one game, but it was a pretty deflating effort on the boards. Houston had 17 offensive rebounds, despite the Mavericks playing a rotation that included center Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington and Cooper Flagg at the wing, and Morez Johnson Jr. as the backup center. Gafford had two defensive rebounds in 22 minutes. That’s not good enough. Washington had three defensive rebounds in 31 minutes. That is also not good enough.

Gafford has quietly not been a great defensive rebounder for his career, so this isn’t all that shocking. But this means others are going to have to step up, and Flagg and Washington combining for nine rebounds probably isn’t enough to make up the built-in Gafford deficit.

It doesn’t take much to get Lakers superstar Luka Doncic going. 

Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg learned that the hard way Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena in his early “welcome to the league” moment.

Doncic and Lendeborg spent most of the second quarter talking trash to each other after the former Michigan Wolverwine was called for a shooting foul against the Slovenian guard.

The chirping continued even when Lendeborg subbed out of the game, with Doncic going out of his way late in the second to talk to the 6-foot-9 forward while he was on the bench. 

The punctuation mark to the jawing came right before halftime, when Doncic nailed a buzzer-beating halfcourt shot to give the Lakers a 66-52 lead going into the game’s break, with the Lakers winning the quarter 32-19.

Doncic scored 23 first-half points, 10 of which came in the second quarter.

The 3-pointer ended a 17-4 run for the Lakers.

And just like most of the quarter, Doncic went back to doing one of the things he does best: Talk trash after a big play. 

Maybe Lendeborg, who was playing in his first NBA game after being the No. 11 pick in June’s NBA draft, will think twice before waking up the best that is Doncic.

Tyrese Haliburton hadn’t touched the floor in a meaningful basketball game in 486 days.

So in the moments after he dropped 23 points and 12 assists for the Pacers on Wednesday night, it was no wonder he was feeling all the emotions.

Haliburton spoke with Indiana’s broadcast after the team’s 123-120 win over the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans about what this return to the floor meant and just how exciting it was to be back in a game that counted.

But before he could give his answer on what this game meant, Haliburton had to fight back tears with his hand and a towel.

“It means a lot to be back out here,” Haliburton said as he tried to compose himself.

Haliburton suffered a devastating tear of his Achilles during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the eventual champion Thunder after he had been dealing with a right calf strain.

He did not return to action last season as the Pacers finished with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 19-63.

Haliburton suited up in three preseason games before the opener, but Wednesday’s win marked a true triumph and return for the two-time All-NBA member.

He played 34 minutes, hit 53.3 percent of his field goal attempts and added two rebounds in Indiana’s first win of the season.

In a long, year-plus rehab, Haliburton finally saw the fruits of his labor play out on the court.

“Yeah, a lot — a lot,” Haliburton said when asked if he had thought about his return during the rehab process.

“I’m just really thankful to be back out here.”

LOS ANGELES - Keaton Wagler made his regular-season debut for the Los Angeles Clippers during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Wagler came off the bench and finished with 15 points, five assists and five rebounds. He was 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-6 from the 3-point line.

The 19-year-old became the second-youngest player in league history, behind LeBron James, to have at least 15 points, five assists and five rebounds while shooting at least 50% from the floor in his debut, according to the team.

Wagler was the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft out of Illinois and is expected to be a promising prospect for the franchise.

While there’s an expectation that it will be an underwhelming season for the Clippers, it will allow for a rookie like Wagler to gain valuable playing time and experience.

The rookie checked into the game with 4:29 left in the first quarter. He managed to get involved early, being credited with an assist after a 26-foot 3-pointer made by Derrick Jones Jr. with 4:15 left in the first frame.

The Dallas Mavericks (0-1) opened the regular season on Wednesday with a 128-110 loss to the Houston Rockets (1-0), and for about 12 minutes, it looked like we might get a competitive basketball game.

Dallas actually started well. P.J. Washington knocked down the first basket of the season from three, Cooper Flagg hit one of his own, and Max Christie made a tough bucket as the Mavericks traded punches with Houston early. Washington was especially good through the first eight minutes, hitting two threes and getting into the lane off the dribble, while Flagg added a difficult floater and consistently looked dangerous whenever Dallas actually put the ball in his hands. The Mavericks even shot 6-of-13 from three in the opening quarter, but Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun kept Houston alive, and the Rockets closed the period stronger to take a 32-26 lead.

Then the game completely broke open.

Houston opened the second quarter with a Christie turnover, a Jabari Smith Jr. basket and an Amen Thompson transition alley-oop, quickly pushing the lead to double digits. Flagg briefly settled Dallas down by getting to the free-throw line, but the Mavericks couldn’t sustain their offense. Morez Johnson Jr. scored his first NBA points on a lob from Naji Marshall and later hit a turnaround jumper, but he also picked up four fouls before halftime. Daniel Gafford struggled, Zaccharie Risacher couldn’t get anything going offensively, and the Mavericks spent too many possessions asking secondary players to create while Flagg and Kyrie Irving watched.

The shooting disappeared with it. Dallas missed 21 consecutive threes at one point and made only four field goals in the entire second quarter. Meanwhile, Houston could not miss. Smith, Sengun, Durant, Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanović all contributed as the Rockets scored 38 points in the period and took an absurd 70-38 lead into halftime. Houston shot 59.5 percent from the floor in the first half while Dallas managed just 33.3 percent.

At least the Mavericks did not completely quit.

Flagg came out of halftime attacking, and the team looked more alive when he ran things. Kyrie started finding some offense, Marcus Sasser gave Dallas a spark off the bench, and Naji Marshall had a productive stretch as the Mavericks finally started stringing together competent possessions. Flagg scored from the paint, the midrange, and the line while also creating turnovers on defense. Dallas still entered the fourth down 100-76, but the second half at least looked like an NBA basketball game again.

That continued into the fourth. Risacher showed some life with consecutive dunks and finished with five steals, while Sasser was outstanding, scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-5 from three. Kyrie finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, but Flagg was easily Dallas’ best player, pouring in 32 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block on 10-of-17 shooting while attempting 13 free throws. Sasser’s 17 and Marshall’s 16 added scoring, but Houston’s starting lineup was simply too much. Durant finished with 30, Smith scored 30 of his own, Sengun had 23 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, and Houston shot 52.2 percent overall and 44.4 percent from three.

Dallas made the final score slightly more respectable, but the 128-110 loss was effectively decided long before the fourth quarter.

Flagg’s second-half explosion

Flagg was easily the best thing about an otherwise miserable opening night, which made his lack of usage even more frustrating.

He finished with 32 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block while shooting 10-of-17 from the floor and getting to the line 13 times. Whenever Dallas actually let him lead the offense, something happened. He got downhill, drew fouls, created turnovers defensively, and looked comfortable pulling up and fading away when Houston cut off the rim.

The frustrating part was how often Dallas went away from him, especially in the first half. Dusty May pulled Flagg for a long stretch early in the second quarter, and the Mavericks spent those minutes trying to manufacture offense through a collection of secondary creators. By the time Flagg returned, Houston had already blown the game open.

You are going to get turnovers when you give a 19-year-old this much responsibility, and Flagg had four. That is fine. The alternative cannot be watching the offense collapse while your best player barely touches the ball.

If Wednesday showed anything, it is that Dallas needs to live with the mistakes and let Flagg drive this thing.

Dusty May’s rotations

May went to the bench early and often, completely changing the rhythm of the game.

Johnson was one of the first reserves to enter. May quickly started experimenting, and Naji, Risacher, Sasser, Marshall, and Sergio de Larrea all got early opportunities. By the opening minutes of the second quarter, Sasser had replaced Kyrie, and Johnson was already getting significant center minutes. Soon after, de Larrea and Marshall were sharing the floor while Flagg sat.

There is nothing wrong with testing combinations, but Dallas did not have enough creation on the floor during those stretches.

The offense fell apart without Flagg and Kyrie. Turnovers piled up, shots came from the wrong players, and Houston punished almost every mistake. Risacher struggled offensively, Johnson got into foul trouble immediately, and Gafford never found a rhythm. The Mavericks made four shots in the entire second quarter and went from trailing by six to trailing by 32.

Some of that is on the players, but May has to recognize which combinations cannot survive without one of his primary creators on the floor.

Swiss cheese for defense

Giving up 70 points in a half is bad enough. Giving up 100 before the fourth quarter makes winning almost impossible unless you have one of the best offenses in basketball.

Dallas does not. Houston shot 59.5% in the first half and 52.2% for the game. Durant and Smith combined for 60 points, Sengun consistently punished Dallas inside, and Houston finished with 32 assists on 47 made baskets.

The Mavericks lack the offensive firepower to win games in the 120s and 130s consistently. Flagg can have nights like this. Kyrie can still score efficiently. Sasser can occasionally catch fire. But Dallas cannot require all of that to stay competitive.

The point-of-attack defense has to be better. The transition defense has to be better. The communication has to be better. If this team is going to win consistently, its defense has to keep games manageable on nights when the offense goes cold.

On Wednesday, Houston was comfortable almost immediately, and by the time Dallas found some life, there was too much damage to undo.

Game 1 of 82 was not exactly what the Utah Jazz and their fans envisioned coming into this new era of ‘Mountain Basketball’. After a strong first quarter, the Jazz could never put a bottle on the Ty Jerome show, and to make matters worse, Utah’s stars never really got themselves going to counter the career night from Jerome.

The Good

• Ty Jerome was simply sensational tonight. In 32 minutes, Jerome finished with 45 points (career high) on 17/25 shooting. He also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Jazz had no answer for him at any point, and he led the Grizzlies to a dominant home opening win.
• Keyonte George had a good night himself for the Utah Jazz. He finished with 22 points and 5 assists. Key was really the only Jazz player who didn’t look completely overwhelmed by the super-aggressive defense that the Grizzlies played. Other players had moments, sure, but Key looked under control for most of the game. That is a really promising sign!
• ACE BAILEY! Ace was an absolute menace on the defensive end for the Jazz. He finished with 3 blocks. I thought Ace did a great job meeting the Grizzlies’ physicality head-on and taking on the challenge defensively. His shot wasn’t falling for a large majority of the game but the defensive strides from Ace were simply eye-popping
• Darryn Peterson’s start was awesome. He was shooting the ball extremely well in the first quarter. He was getting to his spots, drawing fouls, and overall looked the part of a number two overall pick.

The Bad

• The margin between bad and ugly in this recap is going to be very thin. For now, I am going to put Isaiah Collier and, honestly, the entire bench unit (sans Ace Bailey) into the bad section for tonight. Collier has elite speed, and tonight that speed was just bad. Memphis pressured the ball 94 feet after made baskets to speed up the Jazz. Collier’s out-of-control start to the second quarter started a snowball the Jazz didn’t have the firepower to stop. Additionally, Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski were not good on defense and didn’t contribute on offense either. Not great.

• Cam Boozer only shot 2/15 from the field and 0/6 from three. He contributed in other ways, pulling down 11 boards.

The Ugly

• Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr…. That was a really horrible game. Jaren was playing in his first game in Memphis since the trade, and he just looked overwhelmed out there. He fouled out midway through the fourth quarter and was frustrated all night by Memphis’s physical defense. If the Jazz are going to challenge their Western Conference foes for a postseason spot, 10/23 shooting for 33 points is unacceptable from two of your all-star-caliber players.

• The Jazz defense didn’t actually look horrible tonight. The rebounding, on the other hand? Yikes. The Grizzlies manhandled the Jazz on the boards, and because of that, they got 17 more shots than Utah. I don’t really care who you are or who you are playing; if you give the opponent 17 more chances to score, you’re not going to win many ball games.

The Merciful

It is 1 of 82. The sky is not falling. The sun will rise in the morning. You can’t go 41-41 if you don’t lose 41 times. This team is still really young and figuring each other out. We can all take a deep breath. It is going to be okay. We just need to enjoy the journey, Jazz fans.

Before Luka Dončić and Steph Curry traded buckets under the bright lights of Crypto.com Arena, they traded fits.

Opening night doubled as a runway, with the Lakers and Warriors arriving in everything from tailored designer looks to laid-back luxury as the NBA’s biggest stars made their first fashion statements of the new season.

Dončić embraced the spotlight of his first Lakers opener, Curry reminded everyone why he’s still one of the league’s coolest veterans, and the supporting casts gave fans plenty to talk about before the opening tip.

This year, the Nets won’t be trying to lose on purpose.

But they started the season by doing it anyway.

Brooklyn dropped a disappointing opener 110-103 to the visiting Hornets before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center on Wednesday.

It was the Nets’ sixth straight season-opening defeat. And this was a deflating one for a team trying to put three tough seasons behind it and turn the page. They desperately wanted to come out of the gate well and build some momentum.

Losing to a shorthanded, eminently beatable Charlotte team with a grueling six-game gantlet looming risks building all the wrong kinds of momentum.

Rookie lottery pick Mikel Brown Jr. made his debut, while Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. led the way.

But the Nets were sloppy with the ball and beaten on the glass.

“We’ve got to — including myself, I put it on me — we’ve got to impose our physicality on those things and hit people first. So I’ll set a tone with that,” Randle said. “A lot of times rebounding is just wanting to go get it, and wanting your will to go get the ball or not let your man get the ball. So we all got to be better on that front.”

Randle had 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, joining James Harden and Kyrie Irving as the only Nets with at least 30-5-5 in their debut.

And Porter added 26 points, seven boards and three steals.

But it wasn’t enough, thanks to getting outscored 20-8 in second chance points and committing 22 turnovers to just 22 assists.

This against a Hornets team minus Kon Knueppel and Coby White. And with six straight upcoming against teams projected for 44.5 wins by Las Vegas bookmakers.

“Yeah, we did a lot of things that were just self-inflicted. Things that we know we can be better at, and we will be,” Randle said. “We could have been better.”

They should’ve been better.

With the Hornets depleted, the Nets could concentrate on stopping Brandon Miller — but they couldn’t even slow him early. He had 12 of his 18 points right out of the gate to put Brooklyn in a 21-15 hole with 2:37 left in the first quarter.

The Nets spent much of the rest of the night chasing.

Porter was held to just six points in a muted first half. He drilled two quick 3-pointers coming out of the break to pull Brooklyn within four, and his 4-point play gave them a 64-62 lead with 8:12 left in the third. He even notched steals on back-to-back possessions.

But sloppy turnovers and coughing up long offensive rebounds on missed Hornets 3s came back to bite them.

That, and poor play from young guards Egor Dëmin and Nolan Traore, who combined for just seven points on 2-for-14 shooting, 0-for-5 from deep with two assists and five turnovers.

“I’m not very happy with how I end up playing the game. I started with two scored buckets, but then just got slower from a standpoint of my intensity. I’ve definitely got to bring higher energy, whether I’m on the ball, off the ball, in the corner and wherever I am, whatever position I’m playing,” Dëmin said. “I missed every single shot from 3; some shots that I believe were supposed to go in. But it happens … getting downhill again, I’ve got to get better at finishing, because the situations are there.

“Opportunities are there, everything is given to me and I just got to be able to execute on the level that I want to be at.”

On a minutes limit, Brown was limited to six points and three assists in nearly 20 minutes of action, but looked sharp.

The Milwaukee Bucks drop their first game of the post-Giannis era on the road to the Washington Wizards. Despite the loss, there was a lot to like, including 24 points and nine assists from Tyler Herro, and Kasparas Jakucionis leading all scorers off the bench with 15. There was just nothing Milwaukee could do about Anthony Davis, who beasted Milwaukee to the tune of 34 points and nine boards.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

Kyle Kuzma and Jaime Jaquez Jr. opened the season with Milwaukee’s first two buckets. For the rest of the first quarter, the Bucks maintained a strong pace: Jaquez, as we expected, was the calming presence amid the madness and nerves, going 3/4 for seven points and three rebounds in the opening frame. His motor was high, and the rest of the team matched that energy (even if some offseason rust showed). The Bucks shot 40% in the first quarter, including an impressive move by Ousmane Dieng off a high dribble that split two defenders and finished at the rim. Notably, Jenkins didn’t hesitate to sub early and often: 10 players saw four or more minutes in the first, and while the results were mixed, that was what fans wanted to see. After one, the Wizards led 25-23.

The second quarter began with Brayden Burries drawing a foul and hitting two free throws to register his first points in the NBA. Burries first field goal—a smooth and-one after zipping past Tre Johnson at the top of the key—put the Bucks ahead 28-25. The pace and energy continued into the second quarter: Milwaukee went on a 9-0 run over two minutes as Jaquez kept converting high-percentage shots at the rim, leading 39-34. The ball moved quickly all quarter, and Milwaukee outscored Washington 12-2 in transition. Herro would close out the period leading the team in scoring with 14 points on 50% shooting, while the Bucks would out-rebound (26-22), out-assist (14-11), and outscore Washington in the quarter (33-26) to head into halftime up 56-51.

The third quarter started at the same pace and with the same ball movement, with Jaquez and Herro scoring 10 of the Bucks’ first 13 points. The strong play continued, and neither team shied away from contact, playing a grittier style than fans have seen in some time. However, the visitors faced a major problem: Anthony Davis. Davis monstered Milwaukee’s smaller, weaker front line, scoring 30 points on 10/19 shooting in just 27 minutes. Myles Turner responded on offence, finally getting going with a few buckets (not that he was any great shakes at containing AD on the other end). Burries closed the quarter with back-to-back triples, but the Wizards kept it close, down just 93-90 after three. Milwaukee shot a crazy 63% for the quarter, but they struggled with their turnovers, giving it away 13 times.

After a few shaky possessions to start, Jenkins was forced to call an early timeout, and the Bucks responded with a Rollins tip-in layup to regain the lead. However, that was the last time Milwaukee kept close contact; the Wizards then went on an electrifying 10-0 run while putting several Bucks in foul trouble. Herro returned around the eight-minute mark and scored a few tough buckets, but his veteran savvy wasn’t enough as the Wizards extended their lead. The Bucks did strike back at one point, scoring six quick points to cut the lead to seven, but their turnover issues ultimately did them in. The Wizards kept feasting in the paint, dominating the Bucks 70-50 there. Milwaukee’s shooting ran out of gas in the fourth as Washington put the hurt on them, winning the fourth 38-23 and the game 128-116.

Stat That Stood Out

32: The total number of fouls the Bucks committed, leading to 41 free throw attempts for the Wizards.

Obscene Overreaction

I’ve seen enough: pay Jaime Jaquez Jr. NOW! Jaquez showcased all his talents, playing starter-level minutes and finishing second on the team in scoring with 22 points; he also led the team with seven rebounds. His three-point shot looked rusty, but overall, he played a fast-paced, high-spirited game that seemed to positively influence everyone around him.

It would’ve been difficult to dream up a better day for the Brooklyn Nets to begin their season. It was the type of autumn afternoon you imagine when you’re longing for October in the wet heat of July and August. It was cool, crisp outside, with friendly winds, and a sun still peaking through. When “basketball season” starts, that’s what it’s supposed to feel like on the east coast.

And, indoors, the Nets matched Mother Nature’s stage-setting skills, debuting a new floor and uniforms. You don’t often get consensus opinions on things like that, and those of a positive nature are usually even harder to come by. However, both the threads and the hardwood already seem to be well-liked by fans, only adding to the anticipation for tonight.

Then, there are the players: a bushel of sophomores eager to take the next step, a rookie with more promise than any the team has seen in years, and a group of veterans, many with a different point to prove, yet united by their need to prove it.

It was all enough to give a carbon steel sports car goosebumps. It was only right that the Nets gave us an entertaining game in return, even if not a win.

Brooklyn had little trouble carrying over their offensive rhythm from the preseason over into tonight. They started the contest 5-7 from the field. The first points of the year went to Julius Randle, who spun off old teammate Naz Reid for a fadeaway jumper near the charity stripe.

“I was able to find my spots in the flow and rhythm and offense, but honestly I feel like I can get a lot better,” he said.

Randles teammates joined him quickly on the scoreboard. Egor Dëmin came around a screen for a mid-range look around that area soon after, still adding to his shot diet here in the regular season. A few plays later, Michael Porter Jr. stepped into a three after catching a skip pass along the wing. He’s been nailing those for years.

However, when Day’Ron Sharpe exited, so did the music. After picking up his second foul with around seven to play, Mo Wagner subbed in for him. Charlotte took advantage and eventually the lead with about five to go the first, closing it on an extended 22-12 run. They ended up with 14 points in the paint and five offensive boards in the frame as well.

Mikel Brown Jr. also made his NBA debut amid that stretch. He checked in with 3:57 to go in the first. Ironically, the sharpshooter got his first three points as a pro the hard way…

“Yeah, it was great,” MBJ said of his first game. “I enjoyed it. Obviously didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but I enjoyed being out there. First of many.”

Brown looked spry and eager to takeoff in the first half, showing no signs of a bum ankle during the training camp. He almost postered Ryan Kalkbrenner early in the second, getting well above him only to see the ball ricochet out of the cylinder.

You’re going to have those opportunities,“ he said of the near-jam. ”Just got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them when it comes to that stuff. But I’m always going to have that aggressive mindset.”

By all accounts, he looked like a kid out there just having fun. He finished with six points, three assists, and three rebounds while shooting 2-8 from the field and 1-3 from deep.

“He’s gonna be great, man,” Randle said postgame. “I said it from the beginning, but his vision, understanding how to play, make reads off of pick and rolls, or just make the right play every single time comes really natural to him. He’s going to be amazing. He did great. Like, he did exactly how I would expect a first year player to do first game. He was aggressive. I can tell he’s a little sped up at times, but he’s going to continue to get better and better. I think his future is going to be really, really bright in this league.”

“See a lot of confidence, see a lot of poise for a rookie in his first game,” Sharpe added. “He wasn’t afraid of the lights.”

Despite a stoppage after Noah Clowney got into a not-so-friendly game of ring around the rosie with Kalkbrenner, the second quarter gave us some fun back-and-forth action. The Hornets maintained their lead throughout it though, going into the half up 54-48.

Even with Sharpe coming back in to play nearly nine minutes in the second, Charlotte doubled them up in paint scoring for the period, going into the half ahead there by a 30-18 margin. Of course, its early, but the team’s perceived weakness going into the season has been as advertised so far. Nevertheless, Brooklyn hung tough shooting 7-16 from deep in the first while Charlotte shot just 6-24.

Randle hit two of those triples, leading the Nets, and all players minus Brandon Miller (17 PTS) with 15 first half points. It was an uncharacteristically quiet half for Porter Jr, who tied Dëmin and Brown Jr. with just six by that point.

You know the rules with him, though. If he’s not hitting shots now, he’s going to later.

MPJ began the third with a quick 10 points in the periods first four minutes. The last four game via an and-one triple that also pushed the Nets back into the lead for the first time since the 5:37 mark of the first.

However, a solution to Brooklyn’s other problem didn’t present itself so easily. Still looking undersized, on the ensuing Charlotte possession, Brooklyn gave up five shots in one possession. The final was a three from Reid which gave the Hornets the lead once more. Charlotte ended up beating the Nets in second chance points 20-8.

“Just help with the technique,” Fernández said. “If your man doesn’t crash, you can go sandwich and help. Like, it’s all these things that we’ve worked on that obviously we didn’t execute, but I don’t think it was a matter of effort. Our guys played hard. You know, they tried, tried their best. We’re just not there yet to be the hardest playing team for 48 minutes.”

“We got to look at the film,” Randle added. “I think we got to, including myself, I put it on me. We got to impose our physicality on those things and hit people first. So, I’ll set a tone with that. But I think a lot of times rebounding is just wanting to go get it and wanting your will to go get the ball or not let your man get the ball. So, we all got to be better on that front.”

That triple also seemed to rip the seal off the basket for the Hornet shooters. After putting up a tour date in the first half, they went 6-13 from three in the third. A few isolation buckets from Randle kept the Nets within striking distance, though still down five entering the final frame.

Benefitting from a few loose balls that bounced out to a few Nets in position to cherry-pick, Brooklyn cut the it to four with about eight to play. And while that that technically made it a close game, the contest didn’t give that impression. When you’re unable to get stops all night, and down by two or three possessions, it often feels like your down 20 or 30 points.

Getting seals from Kalbrenner and Moussa Diabaté like they’re Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Schröder continued to find space to score on the interior. In turn, the Hornets continued to stay at an arms distance on the scoreboard.

A Randle and-one got it back down to six with about a minute to go, and the building the loudest it had been since the player introductions (we’re not counting David Beckham’s Who’s in the House appearance), but turnover followed by three straight misses quickly reduced the volume in the building and Brooklyn’s comeback chances.

Julius finished with 33 points, seven assists, and eight rebounds while shooting 11-18 from the field and 3-5 from deep. There’s been no shortage of fantastic Nets debuts over the past 10 years, and this one certainly stacks up with the best of them. Porter Jr. added 26 while shooting 10-21 from the field and 5-11 from deep. He also snatched seven boards.

The stats take a nosedive after that. Nobody else reached double digits. Noah Clowney got closest with nine points to go with three boards and a steal, but he also fouled out of the game with 3:44 to go. After solid preseason showings, Egor Dëmin and Nolan Traoré each struggled, combining to shoot 2-14 from the field and commit five turnovers.

“Mine? Not very good,” Dëmin said of his game tonight. “I’m not very happy with how I end up playing the game. I started with two scored buckets, but then kind of just got slower from a standpoint of my intensity…I think I missed every single shot from the three, some shots that I believe were supposed to go in, but it happens. Obviously, it’s a game. Getting downhill again, I got to get better at finishing because the situations are there. Opportunities are there, everything is given to me and I just got to be able to execute on the level that I want to be at. So, I’m going to be back in the gym as soon as I can, as soon as possible, and working on these thing”

“I think their intentions were great and can clean up a lot of different things, turnovers, setup, calling plays, all those things,” Fernández added. “But we’ll watch film with them and we’ll make them better. And the next time, I’ll still want them to — Nolan touch the paint, Egor will be ready to shoot the ball, and all those things. I mean, that’s the NBA. One day you don’t make them, other day they go in, and you just got to stay ready for the next game.”

Well, he’s not wrong. Here come the another 81.

Final: Charlotte Hornets 110, Brooklyn Nets 103

Milestone Watch

• With 32 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Julius Randle joined James Harden and Kyrie Irving as the only Nets with at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in their team debut.
  

Next Up

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re just getting started. Brooklyn will hit the road for a date with Kenny Atkinson and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. The Nets haven’t beaten Cavs since March of 2024. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST.