Tragedy struck in Oklahoma City
Weeelllllpppp. The Thunder’s season was off to an electric start, starting 2-0 with convincing wins against the Spurs and Nuggets–the season was looking promising with the team looking healthy and ready to compete. Then devastation struck Oklahoma City Sunday night in the last few minutes of their win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Jalen Williams was attacking the basket in his usual fashion and came down hard–leaving a sight for the Thunder fans they wish they could erase from their minds. Players were in disbelief, fans were in shock and the leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was in tears. For Jalen Williams, who spent all last season working his way back from injuries that kept him on the sidelines for a majority of the regular season and playoffs, was finally healthy and looking like the version of himself that made the all NBA third team and all second defensive team. It was reported during Sam Presti’s press conference on Monday that the Thunder will be expecting to be without the services of Jalen Williams for the rest of the season and joining him is their up and coming defensive gem, Cason Wallace, who suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder during the Clippers game.
The Thunder have faced plenty of adversity since winning their championship in 2025 and have found ways to continue to be one of league’s most dominant teams but questions will remain at the forward position for OKC and will look to Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell and Alex Caruso to step in the meantime.
Making Magic happen in D.C
A new era is making its debut in the nation's capital as the Wiz came out HUMMING on opening night in their win against the Milwaukee Bucks. It couldn’t have been a more perfect coming out party for the Wizards as Anthony Davis showed the fans of D.C he is ready to compete! Scoring 34 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to go along with 2 steals and a block, Davis was looking like his former dominant self. Securing a win in their season debut, Washington is finally in a position to compete in the eastern conference and will be able to play almost 10 men deep with the amount of depth they have been acquiring on their roster.
Portlands dream night
Portland fans were kicking their feet and screaming in excitement on Wednesday night as the Trailblazers came out on a 21-0 run, almost blowing the roof off the Moda Center in Rip City. There was plenty to be excited about as Damian Lillard was making his return to Portland for the first time in almost three years, Ja Morant making his Trail Blazer debut and seeing what Scoot Henderson was working on during the summer. It was all coming together for the Blazers on Wednesday night as they took down the Suns in a dominating 124-83 victory with 25 points from Dame and 15 off the bench from Scoot. Starting their season 2-0, we will get to see them compete in a western conference showdown on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hot starts
The Minnesota Timberwolves are off to an impressive 3-1 start with wins over the Heat, Magic and Raptors who are all commanding forces in the east. Anthony Edwards came out opening night in Miami ready to kill–dropping 45 points on 55% from the field, he was ready to send a message to the league. We’ve already seen flashes of just how fun the backcourt in Minnesota is going to be between LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards who are two of the leagues most dynamic scorers—it’s going to be a good time for Timberwolves fans this season.
The Pistons were also catching eyes from across the NBA as they started their week going 3-0 with convincing wins across the eastern conference. Taking down the Celtics on opening day even when they found themselves down 22, they weren’t going to start their season off in front of their fans in Detroit on a sour note. Storming back and getting the win, 121-113, it was a great way to set the tone for themselves going forward. Following their win against Boston, the Pistons went into Miami and then Philadelphia over the weekend, walking away with two W’s in their back pocket and standing at 3-0 going into the second week of the season. Cade Cunningham is off to another great start to his season averaging 21 and 8 assists in their first three games, contributing to the Pistons success in any way he can deem possible.
The Memphis Grizzlies are off to a very welcoming and surprising start to their season with the amazing play from Ty Jerome. Averaging 35 points per game in their first 3 games, he has been a huge part to their success along with their newest star and franchise cornerstone, Cameron Boozer. Already averaging a double double in just 3 games into his career, he is giving the Grizzly fans something to be excited about for plenty of years to come. Starting 4-0 in Memphis was not in the cards for them going into this year but they might be the western conference’s surprise team that is ready to shake some things up.
Lukas 50 point outburst
This didn’t take long to get things going for the one of the league’s best scorers as he dropped a scorching 52 points on Sunday night in Salt Lake City in a 132-123 win over the Jazz. This team is built to cater around Luka and his playstyle, to let him play to the fullest of his abilities and truly lead the floor for the Lakers. He’s got the Los Angeles Lakers at 4-0 to start the season and is more than likely to be dropping 50 burgers throughout the season.
Overreactions in the east
It hasn’t all been pretty for some of the other teams across the league who are still trying to find their groove as the season gets underway. We are looking at 6 teams in the NBA who have yet to find their first loss including the previous finals champions, New York Knicks.
New York just hasn’t been able to find that mojo they had in the playoffs last year that secured the Larry O’Brien trophy last June. With losses now to the 76ers, Celtics and Magic, who are all top competitors in the eastern conference, the target is on their back and they are going to have to find out how to become the hunters again. New York is still getting their usual services from Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony towns who are both averaging around 22 points a game but the cast that is surrounding them will need to shake that championship hang over as soon as possible in order to start reclaiming their title as one of the best teams in the eastern conference.
This is not how Heat fans have been expecting their start to the season to go with their newest talent and former MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now 0-4 as of Tuesday morning, Miami just hasn’t been able to find their groove yet with the new roster. More than likely, with a coach like Eric Spoelstra–he is going to gear this team in the right direction and find a way to space out the floor properly with 2 commanding forces in the paint with Bam Adebayo and Giannis primarily being paint scorers. They will have a chance to get their first win on Wednesday night against a rising Atlanta Hawks team.
