NBA: Stephen Curry, Warriors beat LA Lakers in season-opener, Celtics down Sixers

After all those thrilling NBA Finals battles of last decade, Stephen Curry and LeBron James can still put on a spectacular show in their mid-30s. Opening night between these two all-time greats certainly lived up to the bill. Curry began the season with 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds despite a slow start, and the Golden State Warriors beat James and the Los Angeles Lakers 123-109 on Tuesday night after receiving their championship rings in a pregame ceremony. “I’m thrilled with the win,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Ring night is never an easy game and the first game of the season is usually filled with some nerves early on.” Jordan Poole made a pretty bounce pass to a driving Draymond Green for a lay-up and all seemed perfectly well with the defending champions almost two weeks after Green punched Poole at practice October 5, then took a brief leave of absence from the team to work on his emotions. Poole wound up with 12 points and seven assists. “We went out there, we had a job to do tonight to win a game,” Poole said when asked if healing has happened between him and Green. “It was a ring night and that’s really what we were focused on finishing the first game. It was a huge win against a really good team.” James had 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Russell Westbrook scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds after nursing a sore left hamstring. Anthony Davis added 27 points, but the Lakers could not keep up in another signature, runaway third quarter by reigning NBA Finals MVP Curry and Co. “It’s really fun to be a part of, it’s really fun to watch,” Poole said. “These guys have played at the highest level over and over and over again.” Curry missed his initial five 3-pointers and finished 10 for 22, 4 of 13 from deep. Klay Thompson contributed 18 points in 20 minutes for the Warriors, who celebrated the franchise’s fourth title in eight years. Kerr limited the minutes of both Thompson and Green, who was away from the team until last Thursday. Kerr said he will increase Thompson’s minutes each game as a precaution following his return in January from an absence of more than 2 1/2 years for surgeries to his left knee and right Achilles tendon. Warriors centre James Wiseman made his first appearance since his rookie season of 2019-20 after sitting out all of last season recovering from right knee surgery. He had eight points and seven rebounds. The Lakers’ 22 turnovers led to 27 points for the Warriors. “Whether you make a shot or you miss a shot, you turn the ball over, whatever, you’ve got to have a short memory and get on to the next play immediately,” first-year Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham said. “That has to be something that’s in our fabric, not just against Golden State but against the entire league.” In the NBA season opener, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 35 points each as the Boston Celtics brushed off their preseason woes with an impressive 126-117 opening night victory over the Philadelphia 76ers early Wednesday. Tatum – roundly criticised after a series of disappointing performances in Boston’s NBA Finals defeat to Golden State last season – led from the front in a dazzling display at the TD Garden. The 24-year-old Tatum went 13-of-20 from the field while Brown’s 35-point salvo came from 14-of-24 with four three-pointers. Malcolm Brogdon (16 points), Grant Williams (15) and defensive linch pin Marcus Smart (14) also made double figures as the Celtics handed interim head coach Joe Mazzulla the first win of his reign. Mazzulla only took over as head coach last month after the stunning season-long suspension of Ime Udoka. Udoka, one of the rising coaching stars of the NBA, was banned for the entire 2022-2023 campaign after details emerged of an improper relationship with a female member of the Celtics staff. But while the scandal upended the Celtics’ preseason preparations, there was no sign of it on Tuesday as the new campaign got under way with an emphatic win over one of the teams expected to be one of their main Eastern Conference rivals. After the Sixers started brightly to lead 29-24 after the first quarter, Boston roared back to level it at 63-63 at the half-time break. The Celtics then pulled away late in the third quarter with Smart punishing a sloppy Joel Embiid turnover to make it 87-78 before a Tatum three-pointer gave the team a 12-point cushion. The Celtics held onto the lead for the remainder of the game, going 16 points clear later in the fourth before comfortably closing out the win. James Harden led the Sixers scorers with 35 points, while Embiid added 26 and Tyrese Maxey 21.

NBA: Stephen Curry, Warriors beat LA Lakers in season-opener, Celtics down Sixers

NBA returned with a double header as Boston Celtics brushed past Philadelphia 76ers, while Stephen Curry led Warriors to a 123-109 win over Los Angeles Lakers After the Sixers started brightly to lead 29-24 after the first quarter, Boston roared back to level it at 63-63 at the half-time break

NBA returned with a double header as Boston Celtics brushed past Philadelphia 76ers, while Stephen Curry led Warriors to a 123-109 win over Los Angeles Lakers

After the Sixers started brightly to lead 29-24 after the first quarter, Boston roared back to level it at 63-63 at the half-time break