He’s back!

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Garrison Mathews, Nikola Vučević, and Jaylen Brown! 🎉

Opening Week Wrap-Up

Gilgeous-Alexander drops 55, Thunder beat Pacers 141-135 in double-overtime thriller

In a rematch of the 2025 Finals, the MVP did not disappoint.

Bennedict Mathurin (39 PTS, 11 REB) and the Pacers jumped out to an early lead against the reigning champions, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (55 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL) and the Thunder bounced back to grab a five-point lead by halftime. SGA had his most efficient help from the Savior of Basketball AKA Aaron Wiggins (23 PTS, 9 REB, 5-9 3PM), with Ajay Mitchell (29 PTS, 4 AST) stepping up off the bench in the injured Jalen Williams’ absence.

Indiana’s top talent showed out in their season debut, with Mathurin and Pascal Siakam (32 PTS, 15 REB) leading the team in scoring. It was Siakam who sent the game to OT with a clutch jumper with seven seconds left in regulation, and Mathurin returned the favor with a layup that forced a second extra period.

From then on, SGA took control and cemented his career-high scoring night, finishing the game with 55 points in 45 minutes played on 15-31 from the field and 23-26 from the line. Here’s to more like these!

Maxey and Edgecombe combine for 74, Philly comes back to beat Boston 117-116

You’ve heard players talk about their “welcome to the NBA” moments. Seems like the NBA just had a “welcome to VJ Edgecombe” moment.

In the season opener for both the 76ers and Celtics, Edgecombe (34 PTS, 7 REB) and Tyrese Maxey (40 PTS, 6 AST) turned on the scoring jets and fought tooth and nail until the end, eking out a one-point win after being down by double digits to Boston to start the fourth quarter. The No. 3 overall pick started his historic night with 14 points on three 3PM in the first quarter as Philly and Boston traded blows in the first half, and the Celtics eventually responded with Derrick White (25 PTS, 4 AST) taking control in the third.

But Maxey and Edgecombe willed Philly back into the game as the clock ticked, and a Kelly Oubre Jr. (10 PTS) three put the Sixers up 112-111 with a minute to go. It was a solid night on the box score for White and Jaylen Brown (25 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST), but Edgecombe’s magical rookie debut was just the spark Philly needed to complete the comeback. Congrats, VJ!

Elsewhere around the NBA:

• Zion Williamson (27 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 5 STL) stuffed the stat sheet, but it was Ja Morant (35 PTS) who got the last laugh in a battle of 2019’s No. 1 and 2 picks. He and the Grizzlies took down New Orleans 128-122 with some help from Jaren Jackson Jr. (18 PTS, 8 REB, 6 BLK) and Jaylen Wells (14 PTS, 4-8 3PM).

• The Timberwolves shot the lights out from three in their opening game against the Trail Blazers, but it was Anthony Edwards (41 PTS, 7 REB, 2 STL) himself who stole the show. He hit five of the Wolves’ 15 threes and did just enough to cancel out solid performances from Portland’s Jerami Grant (29 PTS) and Shaedon Sharpe (15 PTS, 4 AST) to secure the 118-114 Minnesota W.

• Walker Kessler (22 PTS, 9 REB, 2-2 3PT) and the Jazz walked comfortably by the Clippers in the most surprising win of opening week so far, with Brice Sensabaugh (20 PTS, 4 REB) and Lauri Markkanen (20 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) also pouring in 20+ PTS in the 129-108 win. Ivica Zubac (19 PTS, 7 REB) led the Clippers in scoring as Kawhi and James Harden (25 combined PTS) struggled.

• Alien sighting in Dallas! After the Spurs and Mavs went back and forth in the first half, Victor Wembanyama (40 PTS, 15 REB, 3 BLK, 0 TO) willed his team to a 125-92 victory over Anthony Davis (22 PTS, 13 REB, 2 STL) and Cooper Flagg (10 PTS, 10 REB) in the No. 1 overall pick’s debut. Is the Wemby MVP discussion already here?

5️⃣ Top Five Friday

We know it was the highest-scoring debut since Wilt, but where does VJ Edgecombe’s incredible first game rank amongst the highest-scoring rookie debuts in NBA history? Let’s run down the top five.

1. Wilt Chamberlain: 43 PTS, 28 REB, 17-27 FG, 9-15 FT for the Philadelphia Warriors (11/24/1959 vs. NYK)

At this point, are you even surprised to see Wilt atop this list? Are you even surprised to see that along with scoring 43 points in his NBA debut, he grabbed 28 rebounds?

Wilt Chamberlain started his legendary career with an absolutely legendary debut, and over the first 10 games of his NBA career, he averaged over 37 points and 31 rebounds per game. By the season’s end, he had averaged 37 & 27, which won him the MVP and ROTY trophies as a 23-year-old rookie in 1960.

Unreal.

2. Frank Selvy: 35 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST, 12-25 FG, 11-16 FT for the Milwaukee Hawks (11/30/1954 vs. BOS)

After being drafted to the Baltimore Bullets, but quickly moving to the Milwaukee Hawks in a dispersal draft after the Bullets folded, Frank Selvy opened his All-Star rookie year by setting a then-record for highest-scoring debut. But while his NBA debut was (of course) legendary, Selvy is best remembered for his college days.

On a night that Furman coach Lyles Alley had designated “Frank Selvy Night,” during which Alley told the whole team to funnel the ball to the Selvy so he could score as much as possible, the eventual NBA All-Star scored 100 points in the game and became the first (and only) NCAA Division I player ever to do so.

(PS: There was no three-point line back then, but Selvy later estimated that eight or nine of his shots would have counted as threes. Let’s chalk him up for 109.)

3. V.J. Edgecombe: 34 PTS, 7 REB, 13-26 FG, 5-13 3PT, 3-6 FT for the Philadelphia 76ers (10/22/2025 vs. BOS)

We already went over what made Edgecombe and the Sixers’ night against Boston so great, so we’ll take this time to show some love to the Players’ Tribune article that VJ penned back in July after being drafted to Philly.

4 (tie). John Drew: 32 PTS, 12 REB, 4 STL, 13-34 FG, 6-9 FT for the Atlanta Hawks (10/18/1974 vs. CHI)

Taken by the Hawks in the second round of the 1974 NBA Draft, John “J.E.” Drew quickly became one of the best rookies in his class.

After his electric 32-point debut, Drew subsequently averaged 18.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game (including a league-leading 4.6 ORB) in his rookie season and was the ROTY runner-up behind the Buffalo Braves’ Bob McAdoo. He averaged over 21 and 24 points the next two years, respectively, and was an All-Star in his second season.

The latter half of his career was mired by substance abuse issues, including an eventual ban from the league in 1986, but averaging >20 PPG over an 11-year career cemented Drew as an undeniable scoring talent.

5 (tie). Maurice Stokes: 32 PTS, 20 REB, 8 AST, 11-18 FG, 10-11 FT for the Rochester Royals (11/05/1955 vs. NYK)

One of the NBA’s most heartbreaking “what if” stories, Maurice Stokes only played two more seasons after stunning in his debut and winning ROTY in 1956. He was an absolutely dominant big man during his three NBA seasons, averaging over 16 points and 17 rebounds per game and being selected as an All-Star and All-NBA honoree each year.

Stokes suffered a tragic brain injury during the last game of the 1957-58 season and was paralyzed for much of his life after, eventually passing at the age of 36. The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, created in 2013, commemorates Stokes’ legacy and the care of his teammate-turned-friend-turned-legal guardian, Jack Twyman.

Rest in peace, Maurice Stokes. An NBA legend we lost way too soon.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

We’re in the swing of it now, folks! Thanks for being here on this fine Friday. Talk soon!

Austin Zeglis