The National Basketball Association (NBA) tipped-off the 2024-2025 season Oct. 22, featuring the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics, against the New York Knicks.
The Celtics played the Knicks in the Toronto-Dominion (TD) Garden where they beat them in a rout. Jayson Tatum capitalized on his opportunities by scoring 37 points on 14/18 shooting; he starred in the Celtics impressive performance. The Celtics were close to breaking a record against the Knicks, where they scored 29 three pointers in one game, tying the current record that is held by the Bucks from 2020. However, they failed to break the record as they missed their final 13 three point attempts.
Following the Celtics versus Knicks game, the west showcased the Los Angeles (L.A.) Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers came out with an unexpected victory, 110-103. Anthony Davis had an impressive performance where he scored 36 points and grabbed 16 boards. This game also marked new head coach of the Lakers, Jonathan Clay Reddick’s first regular season game, where he silenced the doubters.
The Wolves were expected to win because of their performance in the previous regular and postseason. However, their recent preseason games weren’t as impressive, similar to that of the Lakers having more losses than wins.
As teams worked to figure out their rotations, the NBA preseason was filled with surprising outcomes. In the west, the Golden State Warriors ended as the 1st seed, with a 6-0 record. Their performance proved that their bench players could be promising, especially with three-point shooting. However, the records in the east weren’t as surprising since the Celtics and Knicks inevitably ended up on top.
There were also some massive player moves in the offseason that shook up the league. The biggest move that happened was the trade between the Timberwolves, Knicks and Hornets.
The Knicks received Karl Anthony Towns and the draft rights to James Nnaji. The Timberwolves received Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenso, Keita Bates-Diop and a future first round pick. Finally the Hornets got Charlie Brown, DaQuan Jeffries, Duane Washington Jr, two future second round picks, a 2025 second round pick and cash. This trade shook up the league in which two contenders completely changed their roster which confused many fans because, usually, the best teams keep their rosters relatively the same.
With these twists and turns of the NBA preseason and opening games, this upcoming regular season remains unpredictable.
