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NBA: 5 Things We Learned On Opening Night

By Josh Cornelissen

Oct 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; General view during the ring ceremony and NBA championship banner raising ceremony before a game against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; General view during the ring ceremony and NBA championship banner raising ceremony before a game against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Six teams squared off on Opening Night, including last year’s defending NBA champions and this year’s presumptive favorites. Not everything went as expected — what did we learn from the first basketball that counted since June?

Oct 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; General view during the ring ceremony and NBA championship banner raising ceremony before a game against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; General view during the ring ceremony and NBA championship banner raising ceremony before a game against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Basketball games that matter are back, and they came back with a bang. Opening Night in the NBA was not only the start of the season, it was the first step towards a rubber match for the ages.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors had their first opportunity to stretch their wings and show the league why a third consecutive Finals showdown was inevitable.

The Cleveland Cavaliers played the first first game of the year, taking on the New York Knicks after raising the first ever championship banner for the franchise. The Knicks players were so transfixed by the banner that they forgot to play defense in a 117-88 romp by the defending champions.

The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, two of the league’s most exciting teams on the rise, showed down in the Pacific Northwest. A hard-fought back-and-forth contest ended with a Portland victory, 113-104 over the Jazz.

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Finally the league’s newest Super Team trotted out in front of the home crowd and faced off against the league’s oldest Super Team.

Not ready to concede the Western Conference, Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs knocked the Warriors flat on their butts. The 129-100 blowout had the Oracle crowd stunned all night.

In an 82-game season, taking too much from one game is never a good idea. But even so, the first 48 minutes of meaningful action for these six teams does tell us something. What are five things we learned on Opening Night?