Before the season, New Orleans Pelican Anthony Davis was under an injury cloud, yet that seemingly vanished after his monster opening game.
Though the Denver Nuggets edged out the Pelicans 107-102, it was the play of Davis that stood out.
He finished the night with 50 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, seven steals, and four blocks – just one block shy of the coveted five by five.
Despite that big performance, no other Pelicans stood up, with just two other players scoring in double figures for New Orleans.
Denver started slowly but eventually took over the first quarter and led by six at the break. The Nuggets took control in the second quarter and at one stage had a 14-point lead over the Pelicans.
Davis would finish the half with 28 points, five rebounds, five steals, two assists, and two blocks. Despite that stat line, his plus/minus was minus ten.
The rest of the Pelicans started to show some life in the fourth, eventually getting the deficit back to two points.
However, the run from New Orleans was far too late and Denver eventually got out with a win.
Anthony Davis: 1st with 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals in ANY game since steals were recorded in 1973-74 (via @eliassports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 27, 2016
50 points for @AntDavis23! One block away from 5×5 game. Would be 1st player in NBA history to do so w/ 40+ points. Insanity.
— Chris Manning 2K17 (@LD2K) October 27, 2016
While Anthony Davis was putting on a show in Denver, another hyped up big man was making his NBA debut in Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid finally took the court in a regular season NBA game after two straight years of watching from the sidelines.
The former number three pick showed exactly why he was so sought after in the 2014 draft, playing 22 minutes and scoring 20 points. While his stats were not as mind blowing as Davis’, the fact he was out there and playing was a highlight enough.
Much like the Pelicans, Embiid’s Sixers would fall short to the Thunder, losing 97-103, but it wasn’t without a fight.
Philadelphia led for most of the game, but in the dying stages they just couldn’t find an answer for MVP candidate Russell Westbrook, who scored 32 points.
Embiid played the starring role for Philadelphia and the Wells Fargo arena was rocking in a way it hasn’t for a number of years. Embiid flashed his brilliant inside play as well as his long range abilities, knocking down a three-pointer in the second quarter. His footwork looked fantastic and his ability to hit shots from inside was a joy to watch.
At one point in the game the crowd was cheering “MVP” while Embiid was at the free throw line.
Embiid was called for a charging foul at the end of the game, which would have cut the deficit to two points with less than 20 seconds to go, ending any chance they had of winning.
Despite all the strong play from the rising star talls of the NBA, few of them were having much luck in the win column, with Minnesota Timberwolves young gun Karl-Anthony Towns also losing his season debut. Memphis, behind Michael Conley and Marc Gasol, triumphed over the fan-favourite Timberwolves, 102-98.
Karl-Anthony Towns did not have a great game compared to the aforementioned big men, but he was still solid, scoring 21 points. However, he could only manage four rebounds.
Minnesota started the game strongly, taking the early lead before the Grizzlies settled down and grounded out the game in typical Memphis fashion.
Former All-Star, Zach Randolph, started on the bench and is likely to continue that role for the remainder of the season. Randolph had 19 points off the bench to go with 11 rebounds.
This certainly is a new generation of big men in the NBA, as Indiana also showed it had a big man that can compete with the best of them, in Myles Turner.
Turner is a rough bet for the Most Improved award this year, and he starred for the Pacers, scoring 30 points and adding 16 rebounds in an overtime victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
Turner missed a number of games last season due to injury which potentially cost him the chance to be rookie of the year.
Now injury free, he will be a force this season.
The Pacers were in front of the Mavericks in the dying seconds of the game, but Harrison Barnes, in his Mavericks debut, scored a three-pointer to tie it up. Turner could have won it in regulation but his long three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim.
Turner made up for the missed three-pointer at the start of overtime, scoring a three-pointer that kick-started an 8-0 run in overtime and put the game out of reach for Dallas.
Indiana is still Paul George’s team for the foreseeable future but that may change if Turner can continue his opening night performance all season long.
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