NEW ADDITIONS PAUL George and Carmelo Anthony joined forces with Russell Westbrook to score a combined 71 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder crushed Anthony’s former team the New York Knicks 105-84 in their season opener last night.
“We all play for one another,” insisted George as questions about how the stars could combine continued after the win.
“Nobody cares who scores. We are going to enjoy one another and that is what it is all about.”
Westbrook picked up where he left off his record-breaking last season by notching a triple-double with 21 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. George finished with 28 points while Anthony delivered 22.
Anthony was the last piece added to the Thunder this summer. ‘Melo’ was the face of his former team but managed to win just one playoff series during his seven seasons with the Knicks.
“It is all good,” he said, “the most important thing was to get out here and start a new journey. This is a new chapter.”
Kristaps Porzingis led the Knicks with 31 points and 12 rebounds. The only other New York player to score in double digits was Enes Kanter, who had 10 points.
Further west, the LA Clippers continued their domination of their city rivals the Lakers with a 108-92 rout to spoil the NBA debut of second-overall draft pick Lonzo Ball.
Blake Griffin had 29 points and 12 rebounds and DeAndre Jordan tallied 14 points and 24 rebounds to lead the Clippers in the season opener for both teams.
The highly-touted Ball shot one-of-six from the floor and finished with just three points in front of a crowd of 19,000 at Staples Center arena.
Ball missed his first three field-goal attempts and both free throws before making his only basket, a three-pointer, with 4:49 left in the first half.
Ball didn’t collect his first assist until teammate Brook Lopez converted a jumper with 1:29 remaining in the opening half.
The Clippers’ Patrick Beverley had the job of guarding Ball and said he wanted to “welcome his little young ass to the NBA”.
The Clippers led 86-63 after three quarters and led by as many as 30 points in the fourth.
The Clippers have now won 19 of the past 21 meetings over the struggling Lakers since the start of the 2012-13 season. Over the last five seasons, the Clippers have outscored the Lakers by an average of 15.4 points.
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
