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For the first time in a while, we have a full slate of NBA games to discuss with you all. Doesn’t that feel great?

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Romeo Langford, PJ Dozier, and Jock Landale! 🎉

Full-Court Coverage

Chet steals spotlight from MVP candidate matchup in 102-87 OKC win over Denver

To be clear, Nikola Jokic (16 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 PTS, 8 AST, 7 REB) played well in this game. It’s just that Chet Holmgren (25 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST) came in and absolutely stole the show.

Denver held a pretty good lead in the first quarter of this one, stretching it out to nine midway through the period before going into the second quarter down by 7. But the Thunder held the lead for the entire rest of the game, leading by as much as twenty late in the fourth quarter. We’ll talk a little more about Chet’s performance later, but it’s safe to say that being “impressed” with the Thunder is a massive understatement.

KD, Suns spoil James Harden’s near-triple-double with 116-113 OT win over Clippers

Before this game started, a lot of the hype about this matchup was regarding the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome and how much fun Steve Ballmer was having with fans in the stands of his new arena. But that quickly died down when the Suns opened up a 14-point lead in the second quarter thanks to a well-rounded offensive attack (six players with 5+ points).

James Harden’s (29 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST) Clippers made it interesting, fighting through and taking a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter. But when Kevin Durant (25 PTS, 7 REB, 3 STL) and the Suns fought back to send the game to OT, Bradley Beal (24 PTS, 7 in OT) finally closed the door for Phoenix.

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• After being down 12 in the third quarter, the Timberwolves grabbed a comeback 117-115 win over Sacramento thanks to Julius Randle’s big night (33 PTS) and a couple clutch Anthony Edwards (32 PTS, 7 REB) free throws.

• Paolo Banchero (33 PTS, 11 REB) led Orlando to a 116-97 win over Miami, getting some help on the glass from Wendell Carter (8 PTS, 14 REB). 💪

• The Hawks squeezed by Brooklyn 120-116 in a duel between Cam Thomas (36 PTS) and Trae Young (30 PTS, 12 AST).

• After being down by as many as 16 in the third quarter, LaMelo Ball (34 PTS, 11 AST, 8 REB) led the Hornets to a comeback 110-105 win over Houston. 🐝

• 22 from Ja Morant, 24 from Desmond Bane, and 27 from Santi Aldama were enough for Memphis to put the Jazz away 126-124 despite a late Utah push led by Lauri Markkanen (35 PTS).

• The Pelicans dominated the Bulls in the second half of a 123-111 New Orleans win, but Dejounte Murray’s fractured hand was the real story of the game. Prayers up to DJ! 🙏

• New Maverick Klay Thompson (22 PTS, 7 REB) shined in Dallas’ 120-109 win over San Antonio. It was also a great duel between Victor Wembanyama and Dereck Lively, but we’ll get into that in a second…

Top Five Friday

For the first Top Five Friday of the regular season (exciting, isn’t it?), we wanna talk about some of last year’s rookies who could be poised to take major strides this season. Here are our top five sophomore player performances from the past couple days of NBA opening week action:

1. Chet Holmgren (OKC): 25 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST, 4 BLK, 2 STL vs DEN

Chet’s game last night would have been great regardless, but the fact he was able to do what he did against a three-time MVP in their home arena makes it an even more impressive performance. He regularly turned intense defense into electrifying offense while absolutely STUFFING the stat sheet, and we’re beginning to think OKC might be especially scary in the West…

2. Dereck Lively II (DAL): 15 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST vs SAS

What a night for D-Live, who did a little bit of everything to help the Mavs over San Antonio yesterday (more on that in the #3 slot). While Daniel Gafford got the start at the 5 for Dallas against the Spurs, Lively logged almost ten more minutes than Gaff—we’re sure an extended streak of games like this one will jump him into the starting lineup.

3. Victor Wembanyama (SAS) 17 PTS, 9 REB vs DAL

Right. On the other side of Lively’s great night was the freak they call Wemby. While Spurs fans may have wanted to see more post feeds and fewer three-point attempts from Vic, his performance still stood out as a positive one. We just can’t wait to see years of him and Dereck Lively dueling it out in the Western Conference…

4. Gradey Dick (TOR): 16 PTS, 2 REB, 2 BLK vs CLE

May we have your attention? Okay, thanks. This is your official announcement that Gradey Dick has the green light in Toronto.

The former Kansas Jayhawk was one of the lone bright spots in Toronto’s blowout loss to the Cavs, and while his efficiency left a little to be desired, the potential is absolutely there. And with Immanuel Quickley getting injured during the game and being held out of practice yesterday, Gradey might have even more of an opportunity to show up for the Raptors this year.

5. Scoot Henderson (POR): 22 PTS, 4 AST, 4 REB vs GSW

Even though it came during a rout by the hands of Steph Curry, Buddy Hield, and Andrew Wiggins, the former third-overall pick ended up with a pretty good stat-line in 28 minutes off the bench for the Trail Blazers. His three-point shot wasn’t falling and Blazers fans would have liked to see him make some better reads in the passing game, but Wednesday’s game gave us hope about who Scoot could become this season.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Whew. NBA basketball really is back, isn’t it? And we wouldn’t have it any other way than with you, the Enjoyers. See you Monday!

-Austin Zeglis