IND @ CHA: Upsets by inspired home teams were common last night. Kemba Walker had a career-high 30 points to lead the Bobcats, with Gerald Henderson adding 18; both men have secured their starting jobs, with Ramon Sessions (11) and Ben Gordon (10) content for now to provide a spark off the bench. Byron Mullens, so hot in the preseason, missed all six of his 3-point attempts. It was a dull effort by the Pacers; I fear that Gerald Green, as good as he looks against second units, is overmatched as a starter.
MIL @ BOS: Completely wrong again, I thought the Celtics were a cinch. Instead, Brandon Jennings had a spectacular game — 21 PTS, 13 AST, 6 STL — and sophomore Tobias Harris, starting at SF, knocked down 8-11 for 18 points. Samuel Dalembert was quiet in 15 minutes, but Ekpe Udoh and Larry Sanders each picked up the slack with 10 bench points. Paul Pierce, who I was certain would dominate Harris, did nothing of the sort and neither Courtney Lee (7) nor Jason Terry (10) got hot at SG.
CHI @ CLE: As anticipated, Anderson Varejao had his hands full with Joakim Noah, and Tristan Thompson is no match for Carlos Boozer, who had 19 PTS, 7 REB and 6 AST. The Bulls were in complete control throughout, able to rest Kirk Hinrich (9 PTS in 17:23) and let Nate Robinson (16 PTS, 12 AST) run wild. Kyrie Irving had a dull night; the Cavs aren’t very good when their only star doesn’t play like one.
UTA @ NOH: Another home team that managed a huge effort against a strong opponent, the Hornets lost superb rookie Anthony Davis to a possible concussion after just 14:25, and still prevailed. Robin Lopez (19 PTS, 7 REB) did a great job on Al Jefferson (10 PTS, 8 REB) and Greivis Vasquez had a double-double (13 & 10) while Ryan Anderson drained five 3-pointers among his 19 points. The Jazz may have been tired and/or overconfident. Randy Foye (20 PTS in 26:52 off the bench) was the lone bright spot and Marvin Williams (5 PTS in 29 minutes) completely vanished.
POR @ OKC: Four of the five Portland starters scored in double figures, but Nicolas Batum had a terrible game, missing 10 of 11 shots, and the Blazers’ bench is very weak. The Thunder got 32 from Russell Westbrook, 23 points and a whopping 17 rebounds from Kevin Durant and 19 from sixth man Kevin Martin in a relatively easy win. That’s two straight disappointing games for Serge Ibaka, though.
SAC @ MIN: Anyone who thought J.J. Barea would be the leading scorer in this game should have cleaned up on FanDuel. Starting PG Luke Ridnour, who had a variety of ailments in camp, played just 20 minutes (9 PTS) while Barea got 27:31, scoring 21 points. Derrick Williams got the start at PF in the absence of Kevin Love, but Dante Cunningham played more minutes. For someone playing his first real game since April 2011, Brandon Roy looked OK —10 PTS, 5 REB and 6 AST despite missing all five 3-point attempts. For the Kings, Isaiah Thomas had 20 but nobody else impressed.