Five takeaways from the NBA's opening night

The 2021-22 NBA season officially began last night, headlined by two marquee matchups between four of the best teams in the NBA. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks received their rings in front of an adoring home crowd and then, showing no sign of a championship hangover,  proceeded to smash the Brooklyn Nets 127-104. Then the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors, with the Lakers falling 121-114 and at times looking every bit the part of a team that was remade from whole cloth over the last few months. 

It’s just two games, but here are the five most important takeaways from the NBA’s opening night.

1. THE NETS' ROTATION IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Steve Nash has some work to do. While the Nets are laden with talent and veterans up and down the roster, it’s very clear that they are far from figuring out a settled rotation. For one thing, Nicolas Claxton and Blake Griffin started together, something that never happened in last year's playoffs. Indeed the Nets almost exclusively played with two bigs alongside KD, which is a radical (or conservative) departure from what they did last season.

They’re clearly trying to see which of the Paul Milsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin trio will feature in the rotation, but in part that came at the expense of Bruce Brown. Brown was a revelation last year as a guard that played the role of a small-ball passing center but didn’t see the court last night until garbage time. Aldridge, in his first game back from a heart scare, was brutal on both ends. His pick and pop skill set just makes him a poor fit as a pick and roll partner for James Harden, particularly as it seems like Harden no longer has the juice he once did getting inside.

Some hot shooting by Patty Mills, making an early case for Sixth Man of the Year, covered up what was ultimately a pretty half-hearted effort overall from the Nets.

2. GIANNIS IS IN MVP FORM

The Milwaukee Bucks will once more go as far as Giannis Antetokounmpo will take them. And if one game is any indication, they’re going to repeat, then three-peat, then accomplish whatever shenanigans they called what Bill Russell did back in his day. Seriously, it’s easy to forget that Giannis is 26 years old, which is the age when most star players are just beginning to enter their prime.

It’s scary to imagine how Giannis could improve, but last night was a sneak peek for what might be in store. For one thing, he seems to have shored up his greatest weakness: his free throws. It became common last season for away playoff crowds to count down Giannis at the line, and he routinely hit 12 or 13 seconds before shooting - drawing multiple violations in the process. But last night his free throw routine was much faster, down to five seconds at most, which should do wonders for his consistency.

Oh, and he put together a ho-hum 32-point, 14-rebound, seven-assist, and two-block stat line.

3. Brooklyn's REBOUNDING COULD BE A PROBLEM

Rebounding was an issue for last year's Nets team, and one that Milwaukee exploited to the hilt. Brooklyn was a bottom-five offensive rebounding team last season per Cleaning the Glass and were tied with the Indiana Pacers for allowing the most second-chance points in the NBA last season.

That figures to be a problem again this year too. The Bucks played bully ball on the inside early and often, grabbing four offensive rebounds on one possession eventually finished off by a tip back dunk by Giannis

The Bucks took 21 more shots than the Nets. That was the ball game.

4. WESTBROOK’S INTEGRATION WILL TAKE TIME

Well, there’s one point of solace for Lakers’ fans hand wringing about Russell Westbrook this morning: it can’t possibly get much worse from that. It was a nightmare showing by the All-Star guard, as Westbrook went 4-13 from the field and 0-4 from deep. He finished with four assists, five rebounds, four fouls, and four turnovers for a game worst -23.

Westbrook played poorly, but it also wasn’t all his fault. While the Milwaukee Bucks played like a well-oiled machine in their home opener, the Lakers played like, well, a team that only has three players from last year's roster on the team. The Lakers inexplicably decided to play Westbrook alongside multiple bigs, which led to comically cramped spacing. They even played Rajon Rondo and Westbrook alongside each other at points, which went about as well as you’d expect.

On the other hand, LeBron and AD looked really, really good. And if those two are firing on all cylinders toward the end of the year, you just expect the players surrounding them to figure it out.

5. THE WARRIORS' ROLE PLAYERS ARE READY FOR PRIMETIME

The Warriors got the win over the Lakers despite a horrendous shooting performance from Steph Curry, which should serve as a warning shot to the rest of the NBA. Although he notched his first triple-double in five years, Curry shot just 5-21 from the floor, and it was really his teammates that stepped up to bag the Warriors their first win of the season.

The Warriors trailed most of the night, but it was a furious counter charge led by Jordan Poole in the fourth quarter that willed them into the lead. Poole finished with 20 points, but the Warriors also got significant contributions from Damion Lee, Andre Iguodala, and Nemanja Bjelica.

Bjelica and Iguodala in particular showcased their incredibly high level of feel and passing vision, and the Warriors' offense at times had the flow of their championship days. If Klay Thompson comes back at a high level, this team suddenly has the combination of depth and high-end talent to win it all.