The opening night of the National Basketball Association began on Oct. 22 with the most winning franchises in NBA history (18 championships for Boston, 17 for Los Angeles) taking on conference rivals. The Los Angeles Lakers faced the Minnesota Timberwolves on home court, while the defending champion Boston Celtics faced the New York Knicks on their home court.
Boston’s defending champs started the night with the ring and banner ceremony for their 18th title they won in last season’s NBA finals. Shortly after the ceremony the first game of the 2024-2025 season tipped off.
The New York Knicks, involved in an off season trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, showed up as a new-look team. In that off season trade the Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns, a shooting big man who put up 12 points and 7 rebounds in his New York debut.
Despite a decent game from the Knicks, the Celtics dominated the competition with a record tying 29 three pointers made in a single game. Jayson Tatum, the All-NBA Celtics star, proved to be player of the game. Tatum scored the game high 37 points on precise shooting splits of 14/18 from the field and 8/11 from deep.
Later in the night on the west coast the Minnesota Timberwolves, involved in that aforementioned trade, appeared with their new additions of power forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo. The Timberwolves made the Western Conference Finals in the previous season, but that playoff experience did not translate against the Lakers who retained much of their roster. Anthony Davis posted strong numbers of 36 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks, leading the Lakers to the win.
This west coast win was also notable because of the history made during the second quarter of the game. LeBron James and Bronny James became the first father-son duo to share the court in an NBA game.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, it’s a moment I’m never going to forget,” James Sr. said. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
Final Scores:
Lakers 110 Timberwolves 103
Celtics 132 Knicks 109
