BOXSCORE CHECK

A quick check of the boxscores of the NBA's opening two nights reveals the following interesting nuggets:

WEDNESDAY

Yi Jianlian gets the start in Milwaukee. I'm not surprised--I was a skeptic coming into the draft, but started coming around on him when I saw him in preseason. He's raw, but he's got some game. Put up 9 & 3 in 25 minutes on 4-5 shooting, not too shabby.

Rashard Lewis had 26 points on 9-13 shooting (incl. 4-5 from 3) in his Orlando debut, a blowout win over Milwaukee. Dwight Howard had 7 blocks in the game, absolutely destroying Andrew Bogut.


How do you like my boy Andrea Bargnani? 20 points in 22 minutes, on 6-11 shooting (3-4 from three). I'm telling you, this guy can really score. He doesn't do much else, but he can fill it up. TJ Ford piled up 12 assists against just 1 turnover in the Raptors uptempo system--exciting things happening in the great white north as they start out with a solid win over Philly.


Danny Granger begins his march to Josh Howard-hood with a nice 20 & 13 performance in a solid Pacers' OT win over Washington without Jermaine O'Neal. Granger went 5-9 (!) from three and had 2 steals and 2 blocks.


Tyrus Thomas struggled after getting the start in Chicago, putting up just 4 & 6 with no steals or blocks. They need more activity from him than that, and I'm sure they'll get it. If not, Andres Nocioni could be in for more minutes.


Same game--nice to see Richard Jefferson back healthy, he had a great debut with 29 & 10, playing 44 minutes as the Nets notched a solid win over the Bulls.


New Orleans blew out Sacto, I think they're going to be pretty damn good if they can stay healthy--but in a monster western conference, a "pretty damn good" team might not even make the playoffs. Anyway, Chris Paul had 22/8/12, Peja had 19 with 4 three pointers, and Tyson Chandler kept up his strong play from late last year, putting up 15 & 13 with 2 blocks.


And then there was Kevin Durant, struggling a bit in his debut. He had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a block, but shot just 7-22 from the floor. Like I said a while ago, Durant will put up great numbers this year, but watch out for a terrible shooting percentage--this kid puts it up from anywhere on the floor. I think he has the same issue as Kobe Bryant when it comes to shot selection: any shot he takes is one that he's made hundreds of times in his lifetime--but that doesn't make it a good shot. Just because you can hit a 20-foot turnaround fadeaway from the baseline doesn't mean you should. It's just a matter of him figuring out which shots he can make 50% of the time and which ones he can make 40%--and taking a lot more of the former than the latter. He'll have some ups and downs this year, but make no mistake, I'm still president and founder of the Kevin Durant Fan Club.


TUESDAY

Great start to the season for LaMarcus Aldridge, he was unstoppable against a tough San Antonio front line, scoring 27 on 12-19 shooting. Martell Webster also stepped up, piling up 21 points after earning the start at SF. San Antonio ended up pulling away in the end, but Portland played them tough--on the road--for much of the game. If Oden were healthy, I think Portland is a playoff team as early as this season.


In the Laker loss to Houston, Kwame Brown got the surprise start over Andrew Bynum, but that may have been a punishment for Bynum being late to the game (my friend was stuck in traffic for 3 hours that night--going 20 miles--so I'm not going to attribute this to Bynum's immaturity). Kwame continued to stink, but Bynum had a couple nice stretches in limited minutes.

Not much else to report from this game--Kobe, Yao and T-Mac are all very good, and Houston's better than LA.

There was an Andrei Kirilenko sighting in Utah, AK-47 coming up with 9/9/8 with a steal and 5 blocks in a blowout win over Golden State. Deron Williams started strong in what I expect to be his coming out season with 24 & 8, and Ronnie Brewer had 18 after getting the starting nod at SG.

For Golden State, playing without the suspended Stephen Jackson, Kelenna Azuibuike got the start and had 11. Monta Ellis also started and put in 17. Marco Belinelli didn't get off the bench much, with 6 points in just 12 minutes, but PT status can change in a heartbeat with Don Nelson.