No clips today. Instead notes from all 12 games on a busy Friday night around the Association.
Before we get to the games: The NBA on Amazon Prime debuted on Friday. It was a really good debut! The game presentation looked great, and the broadcast was smooth. The real highlight was a really good studio show. Insightful, fun, positive, and just a good time. Another great start for a new NBA media partner.
Here’s what I saw on Friday!
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Milwaukee Bucks - 122 at Toronto Raptors - 116
Monster Giannis Antetokounmpo game. But the Bucks don’t win this one without Cole Anthony. He was terrific off the bench, including several big plays down the stretch to seal the road win.
The Raptors need to get more three-point shots up. This is especially true with their better shooters. That said, things are working with a lot of score-first guys, because the ball is moving. Toronto lost, but they were right there. They’ll be a tough team all season.
Atlanta Hawks - 111 at Orlando Magic - 107
The shorthanded Hawks bounced back from an opening night blowout loss. Despite being more perimeter-oriented with personnel due to absences, Atlanta got it done with 58 points in the paint. Big-time game off the bench for Mouhamed Gueye. Hawks should try to get him more minutes.
Turnovers and poor shooting undid things for the Magic. Desmond Bane was off from deep, but the turnovers were a team-wide issue. On the plus side, Tristan da Silva turned in another strong game off the bench.
Boston Celtics - 95 at New York Knicks- 105
You can get a sense of how the Celtics will need to compete this year. When they started picking up full court, they got back in the game. That masked some other issues to some extent. But the rebounding…ugh. 21 offensive boards for the Knicks. That’s incredibly bad.
A positive: Hugo Gonzalez looked good. He’s already making an impact in one-on-one defense. Looks like Boston has a keeper with the young wing.
The stars got it done New York. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns made the big plays. The Knicks also got some good minutes from Tyler Kolek off the bench. He does a nice job of keeping the ball moving to get good shots.
Cleveland Cavaliers - 131 at Brooklyn Nets - 124
Donovan Mitchell was awesome, but he wasn’t the only Cavs guards to take advantage of the inexperienced Nets backcourt. Craig Porter Jr. was terrific off the bench. He was able to get where he wanted for good looks all game long.
Jordi Fernandez has his guys playing hard. Brooklyn battled back and made this one a game when it looked like a blowout was coming. Ziaire Williams played great off the bench. Egor Demin had another strong game too. This around Demin made plays as a passer too.
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