Day 2 of the 2014-15 NBA regular season is officially in the books. Wednesday, October 29 was a day that played host to some throwback performances by major stars, the return of others and the first overtime period of the season.
There was a buzzer-beater, a number of massive statistical performances and the debut of big-name rookies. When it was all said and done, Day 2 set the stage for a magnificent 2014-15 campaign.
These are the 10 facts that you need to know about last night’s action.
1. In the first game of the post-LeBron James era, Chris Bosh put up 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 107-95 victory over the Washington Wizards. Norris Cole added a career-high 23 points and Dwyane Wade had 21, including 11 points in the final 4:13 of the fourth quarter.
This was Bosh’s first game with at least 25 points and 15 rebounds since February 2, 2010. It was the 19th such game of his career.
Zero of those were tallied during the Big Three era.
2. Taj Gibson scored 22 points and Pau Gasol added 21 and 11 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-80 road drubbing of the New York Knicks. Doug McDermott had 12 points and five rebounds in his NBA debut, while Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
Derrick Rose tallied 13 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes in his first game back in the NBA.
3. Russell Westbrook scored 38 points, but it was the Portland Trail Blazers that prevailed 106-89 over the Oklahoma City Thunder. LaMarcus Aldridge put up 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Wesley Matthews poured in 22 as the Trail Blazers earned a victory over their division rivals.
The 38 points were the most Westbrook has scored in a regular season game since March 1, 2013.
4. Kemba Walker scored 26 points, Marvin Williams tallied 19 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist put up 17 as the Charlotte Hornets erased a 24-point deficit to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 108-106 in the first overtime game of the season. Brandon Knight had 22 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and one block, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Charlotte from winning.
The 25-point comeback is the largest in franchise history.
5. Despite shooting 6-of-27 from beyond the arc as a team, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings 95-77. Stephen Curry posted 24 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and six steals, while Splash Brothers counterpart Klay Thompson had 19 points and six assists.
Curry and Thompson combined to shoot 11-of-31 from the field and 4-of-17 from beyond the arc, but Golden State still held on for the win.
6. Rajon Rondo stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds, one block and one steal as the Boston Celtics blew out the Brooklyn Nets 121-105. Kelly Olynyk put up 19 points and Jeff Green had 17 for Boston, while Mirza Teletovic scored 20 and both Joe Johnson and Deron Williams tacked on 19 for Brooklyn.
Eight separate Celtics scored in double-figures as the team set its highest season-opening points total, 121, since 1990.
7. Isaiah Thomas made his Phoenix Suns debut with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Marcus Morris scored 21 to lead the team to a 119-99 destruction of the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Morris and Thomas combined to shoot 10-of-16 from 3-point range to counter 31 points from Kobe Bryant.
Bryant’s 31 were the most he’s scored in a single game since April 12, 2013.
8. Kenneth Faried took over with 22 points, 17 rebounds and four assists on 8-of-12 shooting from the field to lead the Denver Nuggets to an 89-79 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Josh Smith scored a game-high 25 points for Detroit, but Denver used a high-powered fourth quarter attack to secure the win.
Dating back to 2013-14, this is the third time in five games that Faried’s tallied at least 17 rebounds in a game.
9. Seven players scored in double-figures to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 109-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta shot 50.0 percent from the field and went 13-of-22 from beyond the arc, while Toronto converted 41.1 percent of its field goals and 30.8 percent of its attempts from distance.
So how did Toronto turn out this victory? Atlanta went 9-of-17 from the charity stripe and committed 17 turnovers. Toronto was 27-of-33 and coughed it up just nine times.
10. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were flat-out dominant as the Memphis Grizzlies took down the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves 105-101. Gasol went off for 32 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a pair of steals, while Randolph put up 25 points, 13 rebounds, one assist, a block and one steal.
The 32 points set a new career-high for the younger Gasol brother.
Around The League
- Roy Hibbert scored 22 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 103-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Tony Wroten put up 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Nerlens Noel put up six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks on 2-of-11 shooting in his NBA debut.
- Dwight Howard put up 22 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal to help the Houston Rockets defeat the Utah Jazz 104-93. Derrick Favors posted 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, four blocks and three steals on 7-of-10 shooting, but Utah shot just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.