Ben Simmons, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Jamal Murray have all made their NBA returns, which is good for basketball overall.
On the other hand, two teams who were recently rocked by internal scandals – the Celtics and the Suns – have made headlines in the NBA 2022 news for different reasons this preseason.
Without further ado, read on below as SBOTOP reviews the latest around the Association.
The jury is out on Simmons
It was an uneventful summer overall for the Nets, primarily because of the Kevin Durant trade saga. But now that it’s over and with Ben Simmons at 100-per cent, there’s a feeling of hope in Brooklyn for the first time in a long while.
Simmons played for the first time after a 470-day layoff and he was moving up and down the floor well, although he was showing some rust at times. He finished with six points, five assists, and four rebounds in 19 minutes of action versus his former team in the 127-108 loss.
He was Brooklyn’s point guard in the opening frame as he was keen to create for his teammates – which included some nifty passes to Royce O’Neale and Kevin Durant. The 26-year-old’s first points as a Net was a fast break dunk that was facilitated by Kyrie Irving.
For much of Simmons’ limitations on the offencive end, what makes Nets fans giddy about him is his versatility. Now that he has Irving and Durant by his side, all Simmons has to do is to facilitate for them while wreaking havoc on the defencive end using his athleticism.
Leonard, Lillard, and Murray all looked great
Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard put on a show in Seattle, while Jamal Murray also played superb in front of their home crowd in Denver. Leonard and Murray were out for a long time due to knee injuries, while Lillard fixed his abdominal injury by going under the knife.
Leonard tallied 11 points, four rebounds, and two steals in just 16 minutes, while Lillard finished with 16 points, three rebounds, and two assists in 23 minutes.
Both of them played with a spring in their step as they were attacking the rim and they were hitting their perimeter shots early. Plus, they were also active on the defencive end.
Unfortunately for Leonard, he went on to miss his next five field goal attempts but made his last two before calling it a day. Meanwhile, Lillard got Portland off to a hot start in the third period which helped them in securing the 102-97 victory.
Meanwhile, Jamal Murray didn’t look like he tore his ACL at all in their 112-101 defeat to the Thunder.
Murray’s explosiveness was in full display at the Ball Arena and he managed to finish with 10 points, two rebounds, and two assists in his 15 minutes of action. Overall, it was good to see him, Michael Porter Jr., and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic share the court together again.
If Murray and Porter Jr. can get back to their pre-injury levels, the Nuggets’ NBA 2022 odds will drastically improve and perhaps they might be the dark horses in the Western Conference.
Suns suffer shocking upset, Celtics dominated in opener
Phoenix are fresh from an unexpected 134-124 loss to the Adelaide 36ers from Australia’s National Basketball League on Sunday. They became the first team to lose a preseason game to a non-NBA team since 2016.
The 36ers got off to a fast start because of their hot outside shooting as they built the double-digit lead after hitting 10 of their first 17 three-pointers.
The Suns were getting their way inside, but they couldn’t match the 36ers’ three-point shooting touch throughout the game. It didn’t help either that Phoenix only shot 9-of-34 from outside the arc.
Cameron Payne led the Suns with 23 points, while Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton had 22 each in the losing effort. Craig Randall was the man of the hour with 35 points for Adelaide.
Three-point shooting was the also the reason why the Celtics blew out the Hornets, 134-93. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led the defending Eastern Conference champions with 40 points combined, while Sam Hauser and summer addition Malcolm Brogdon had 14 and 11.
Boston shot 22-of-47 from deep while Charlotte only made 5-of-33. The Joe Mazzulla-mentored squad built an insurmountable lead at halftime and they even stretched their edge to as high as 46 in the second half.
Kelly Oubre Jr. paced the Hornets with 17 points, while franchise point guard LaMelo Ball had 14 but shoot only 5-of-19 from the field.
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