Opening Night Live Blog: NBA Back!

And with that, kids, the 2012-2013 NBA Season has begun! It was a blast, and thanks for reading guys. You can follow me on Twitter @jakin1013, and Mark at @Mark_Travis, and be sure to check us out through out the season for Mark’s sound analysis and daily break downs, along with my gibbering rants, and once again, thank you and Goodnight!

After the Pau Gasol three, your final score is 99-91 Mavs. Not too bad considering that for a moment it looked like the Lakers could lose by twenty.

For the umpteenth time I’ll say that the Lakers will be fine. This is a totally different team dynamic than LA has had in some time. They will put the pieces together and become the contender that everyone is saying they are. Of this I am certain.

On the flipside of that coin, you could make the case that Dallas should have been even more sloppy looking than the Lakers with Dirk’s injury and this basically being an entirely new team. They looked great, and if they can continue to play this hard and do this well, then the Mavs may make my season prediction of them winning around 35 games or so look stupid. Good on them.

Metta World Peace with a long two to be followed by Kobe on a fast break, and at least the Lakers aren’t just dying on the court.

Dwight Howard fouls out with two to go. Interesting to see if this becomes a trend.

Vince Carter bombs another three, and for one precious moment at least the world is normal again.

Mavericks up by thirteen with three left to play. A comeback is in theory possible, but short of Kobe (who has looked great) going nuclear I don’t see it happening.

Elton Brand passes inside to Shawn Marion for yet another Matrix dunk. The Mavs have been very surprising. And for everytime I’ve said the Lakers will get it together tonight, I should be saying the chemistry Dallas has displayed is fantastic as well.

More than out of sync, the Lakers have looked slow and at times disinterested. Which would be a concern, but I think this team knows what they are capable of and is not caring so much about the outcome of the game as they are just getting time on the court together.

Pau Gasol with the block on Collison as the shot clock expires. One of the few good defensive displays by the Lakers tonight. The defense is worrying, but if Dwight is slightly out of shape that should come into form as well.

Kobe Bryant nails an impossible leaning shot. So basically Kobe is being Kobe.

Predictably the internet is exploding with LAKERS SUCK type responses. Certainly just one game has little meaning in a long season. The Lakers will be good.  Even if they are trailing by fifteen to a team without their offensive focal point.

I’m already trading Dwight Howard and starting Jordan Hill. He’s killing it. But fun time is over as the HOFers emerge from their slumber on the bench.

Beaubois largely quiet so far in the second half. Guess the spark is done. Though he will get some FTs after the Blake foul.

The Dwight Howard and-none bring it to eight.

Jordan Hill with a tough offensive rebound leading to a foul. I am raising his ceiling as we speak.

Shawn Marion with the dunk. Wait, what?

At the start of the fourth  its 74-66 Mavs. Interesting to see if the Lakers respond.

Vince Carter driving the lane for one of his signature dunks from a decade ago, and instead opts with one of his signature fails from today instead.

“Pau Gasol just outran Eddy Curry.”………Nope. Too easy.

The Lakers are going to be asking a lot of Jordan Hill, and in the first game at least he hasn’t disappointed. Consistently being in good spots and making things happen with this second unit. That bodes well.

NBA Cares Dirk makes me miss NBA court Dirk.

This guy from the Black Ops 2 3D commercial should be shot in public.

I feel like Eddy Curry having an impact on this game bodes ill for the Lakers.

“Eddy Curry is a big body.” Understatement of the evening.

Reggie passionately saying what Dwight needs to do to in order to fix his free throws. Like he’ll ever do it.

It does appear that my cooing over the Lakers’ offense may have been premature, as the offense lilts lazily to a forces Gasol shot which draws a foul. I do think this team gets there, but they certainly aren’t there tonight.

Announcers making some good points about the Mav’s cap space. I think Cuban flubbed his Deron chances with the Shark Tank fiasco, but when he isn’t being stupid he is awfully smart.

Dwight Howard’s love tap on Elton Brand is ruled a flagrant one. Whose loving the drama of these flagrant reviews? No one? Thought so.

You can almost hear Kobe’s internal dialogue. “Sigh. Guess I still have to do everything myself.”

Pau Gasol throws the ball smoothly out of bounds. Risky strategy. Collison and Kobe are carrying their teams.

Not much converting on good offense here in the beginning of the third. Mayo’s missed on a good move and Dwight flubs a hook and some FTs.

Then again, Mike Brown is known more for being a defensive guy, and I can tell you a lot of his sets with Lebron in Cleveland were unimaginative, but then again, Lebron was essentially the be all and end all of those teams. In LA this season, he’s been handed the keys to a fully stocked candy store, and as the season goes on I could easily imagine him changing his mind on what he wants to eat.

A lot being made in the pregame show of how the “Hybrid Princeton” offense is hurting the Lakers, and some of it makes sense.As far as their suggestion of occasionally breaking the play however, I feel like Mike Brown’s thinking would be that you learn the offense first. A month or two in, when they have the offense down, THEN you start freestyling on it, I would think.

Vince Carter is the game’s +/- leader, something you can file in the realm of things  I will never understand.

48-46 Mavs at the half. The Mavs are taking advantage of some of the Lakers’ inexperience with their new system, and good for them. As for the Lakers, you can see shades of what this team could become, and it is terrifying. But take that with a grain of salt, I check under my bed for Kobe Bryant before I go to sleep at night.

The Lakers are shooting 59%? Didn’t expect that. Once they start getting more shots off, this team will be a juggernaut. Only health, a nuclear KD, or a nuclear Lebron could stop them.

Granted, it is the first half, and Kobe will likely decide to end this nonsense in the second half (as he lays in a crazy lay up), but its nice to see the Mavs not laying down.

The Mavs are here to play. I love it. They should be trash and they are taking it to Vegas’ 8-5 odds championship Lakers.

Vince Carter missing the world’s easiest three. I think as an internet we have run out of Vinsanity jokes. I know I have.

Jae Crowder and his dreads are coming for your soul. Could he be this year’s Norris Cole?

I always wonder exactly what kind of an experience it would be to sit next to Jack at Staples.

Beaubois making his case for sixth man of the year! Or sixth man of the hour at least. Creating a spark off the bench at the least though.

Nash and Kobe coming back in. Time to see if they can extend the deficit. Of create on at all as Roddy-B ties it with a three.

Blake may miss that shot, but I feel like Blake as a back up point guard is a damn sight better than a lot of teams.

Not sure the Lakers acquired Jordan Hill to shoot threes.

I feel like the number of player on the Mavericks roster > the number of people watching the show Dallas on TNT.

And we are at 25-29 Lakers after one. The Dirkless Mavs are hanging in, but with everything the Lakers are adding in this year, this early game means little. Still, this is a game where the Mavs have everything to win and nothing to lose, so good to see them rising to the challenge.

For reasons that I do not totally understand, I love hearing anyone say the name Beaubois.

Predictably, the Lakers pull away when Jordan Hill enters the game.

Jodie Meeks hits a three. All according to Mike Browns plan.

Live blogging was not meant for Darren Collison. He’s much faster than 50 words per minute.

Make that eight points. Reading is fundamental, kids.

Mayo is looking good early. Nine early points. Without Dirk he basically has the keys. Interesting to see how he responds.

Eddy Curry looks surprisingly at home in Mavs blue.

Obligatory Vince Carter joke here.

Kobe is prone to fits of one on five, but I’m still amazed by how often he somehow makes it work. He will become a more willing passer as things progress with this team, I believe.

A friend just texted me that he doesn’t recognize the Mavs at all. Amazing how much they have changed.  I am worried about this team because of the early injuries, but I do think they could coalesce into a really talented team later on in the season. It will be interesting to see if they can overcome a possible early hole.

The Lakers have started off this game well offensively, working deep into the shot clock to get good looks. The only poor possessions have come when Metta has touched the ball, which is not surprising. Dallas is hanging in there without Dirk, though.

Nash passes to Kobe, who then completely forgets about the other three HOFers on his team and takes an ugly shot.

Kobe looking spry with a drive. I honestly am not sure how you stop this team offensively. I look forward to many people trying.

Mayo and Nash trading threes, and Howard comes in with a hook. Howard has missed  a dunk early, but he should feast on this game.

Something about Nash in Laker yellow looks like Easter Eggs on Christmas. Dwight, however, looks right at home as he grabs the game’s first rebound.

But whose ready to see how the Lakers’ new Murder-Death-Kill machine looks against a team missing its best player? I know I am.

And there is your final score, Miami 120, Boston 107. While I didn’t get to see as much of the game as I’d have liked, I would think Miami has to be thrilled with the outcome of getting the win over their presumptive conference rival with Lebron not logging as many minutes as he normally would.

As for the Celts, we knew that this team was integrating a lot of new parts, and I don’t think that this loss tells us much. They will get it together sooner rather than later and become the team we suspect them to be.

Rondo employing the rarely seen “Sleeper-Hold” Defense. Wade smiling and walking away.

With Bosh heading to the line, I’m starting to wonder if, even though this is the first game of the season, the Celtics could forgive themselves for losing to the Heat with out Lebron for a game.

Well this has escalated quickly. Four point game.

Alright, Kevin Garnett got away with something. NOW it feels like the season started.

And the confirmed Barbosa three brings it to within eight. There is no understating how good this Celtics team could wind up being.

Miami’s defense seems to be suffering mightily without Lebron, which is of course to be expected, but in my two minutes of watching this game, I’ll say I’m impressed with how svelte Wade looks. Looks lighter and five years younger.

And what’s this I’m hearing about more Lebron leg cramps? It’s like the season never ended! Although from that Chalmers to Wade score there, his services may not be needed any longer.

Leandro Barbosa behind the back jumper? Seems legit.

Well here we are at the beginning of the season Mark! What have I missed so far? Did Lebron ascend into the heavens on a flaming cloud? Did Kevin Garnett eat Ray Allen alive yet? Does Mike Miller still have his creepy little moustache?

Even against a stellar defensive team in the Celtics, the Heat are scoring at a ridiculous rate. They had 64 points in the first half on 51% shooting. LeBron is playing like the best player in the world again, which isn’t a surprise. 16 points, nine rebounds and a pair of dimes in the first half for him. Rajon Rondo is also playing well, notching eight points and eight dimes in the first half of action. Miami has an eight point lead right now, which means the second half should be an extremely exciting one.

The Wizards have started off the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run. Cleveland’s offense can’t score without Irving or Waiters on the floor and their defense is seriously lacking with Varejao out. What looked like a blowout is now a five point game with 10 minutes to go.

Anderson Varejao is putting on a rebounding clinic against the Wizards. He has 20 rebounds (9 offensive) in 25 minutes. Keeping plays alive and closing out defensive possessions. And it only the third quarter.

The Cavaliers lead the Wizards 50-39 at the half.

The Wizards, as they will for the majority of this season, are struggling to get much going offensively. They’ve got some nice stuff the weakside but you can tell the difference between having playmakers and not having them when you watch how easily Cleveland gets into the paint with Irving and Waiters.

Dion Waiters and Bradley Beal have both looked good early on. Waiters is bringing the ball up on almost every play for the Cavaliers, which is interesting since they have one of the league’s best point guards in Kyrie Irving. I suppose they wanted to get him involved right out of the game this season and it’s worked: He has been getting to the rim at will and making plays for himself and others.

Anderson Varejao has been impressive early, earning points by doing Andy things like fighting for offensive rebounds and making some really nice passes to cutters.

Beal has drained a couple of threes, which has Washington leading after the first timeout. Their offense hasn’t looked great because Price hasn’t been able to get space at the point of attack but they are getting good looks in tradition.

Your starting line-ups for tonight:

Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao.

Wizards: A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker and Emeka Okafor.

Hello all! I hope that all of you are just as excited about the new season beginning as I am. We have a very exciting opening night slate if only for the matchup between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. We’ll be starting off here by following Wizards-Cavaliers, which should tip-off in the next 10 minutes or so. John Wall and Nene won’t be playing for the Wizards in this one, so get ready for a lot of A.J. Price and Bradley Beal. The main storyline in this game, if you want to call it that, is the matchup between Beal and Dion Waiters, who were taken one after another in this year’s draft. As a significant piece for the future of the franchise, Beal figures to get a lot of touches in Wall’s absence while Waiters will have to prove he can play with Kyrie Irving.

Enjoy!

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