The start of the 2017-18 season in the NBA brought the first surprise, the defeat of champions Golden State Warriors, against the Houston Rockets, the leading role of forward LeBron James and the serious injury of forward Gordon Hayward.
The eaves reserve P.J. Tucker hit two free throws with 44 seconds left in regulation time and scored the Rockets’ 121-122 home win over NBA defending champions Warriors in the first game of both teams.
Before the start of the game, the Warriors received their rings of champions of the league with 11 diamonds each, new mark in the history of the professional sports in the United States.
They also raised the Oracle Arena, the second pennant of NBA champions in three years, to the roof of their field, but then ended the celebration with defeat and especially with the injury suffered in the third period the power forward pivot Draymond Green, who had a stretch in his left knee.
While the big hero of the game was Tucker, one of the acquisitions made by the Rockets during the summer break, which in the absence of 44 seconds, scored the two free throws that allowed the Rockets to seal the final numbers and complete the comeback.
Tucker contributed 20 points, including four triples who scored six attempts.
The Rockets had six players with double-digit numbers, including three starters, and the remaining three were the only three reserves that saw action.
The leading scorer for the Texan team returned to escort James Harden, double-double of 27 and 10 assists, and reserve Eric Gordon scored 24, despite missing all six attempts from outside the perimeter.
Chris Paul, the Rockets’ great summer signing, confirmed his great skills as a leader and manager of the game with four points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and two rebounds.
The Warriors champions had their best scorer to reserve guard-forward Nick Young, with 23 points, who made his debut as a new player of the current league champions.
Stellar star Stephen Curry scored 22 points and forward Kevin Durant added 20 points for the Warriors, who scored 54 percent (43-80) of their field shots by the Rockets’ 49 percent (47-97) .
Before the duel between the Warriors and the Rockets, Hayward suffered a fractured left ankle when he played just five minutes into the opening game of the 2017-2018 NBA season, in which again forward LeBron James scored his first double-double of 29 points and 16 rebounds in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 102-99 victory over the Boston Celtics.
James returned to be the salvation of a Cavaliers who as a team showed again all the deficiencies, and only the genius of his star, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, saved them from defeat.
Power forward Kevin Love also had double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds and base Derrick Rose, who made his debut with the Cavaliers, contributed 14 points.
Dwyane Wade, who made his debut with the Cavaliers and was a starter, was mediocre and without any definition of individual or team play, giving eight points after scoring 3 of 10 field shots and three assists
Spanish base Jose Manuel Calderón did not play by the decision of the Cavaliers coach, Tyronn Lue.
While the Celtics not only lost the game but before the end of the first quarter saw as one of their great signings of the summer, Hayward fractured his left ankle to fall into the bad position and had to leave the field on stretcher and with the uncertainty that is lost all season.
The incident was reported to fall into a bad position five minutes into the first quarter, in Hayward’s debut with the Celtics.
After seeing the condition Hayward had his ankle, Wade knelt down and taking his hand to his head prayed as the team doctors attended the Celtics player.
Last July, the Celtics signed Hayward, a 27-year-old with a $ 128 million, four-year contract, and his downfall leaves the Celtics out of the way and is poised to be the team with maximum aspirations for the Eastern Conference title .
Despite Hayward’s absence and the moral blow to the Celtics, Boston had a better team game with former Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving as the leader in their new team debut.
Jailen Brown had 25 points and was the top scorer of the Celtics (0-1), while Irving contributed double-double of 22 points and 10 assists, in addition to capture four rebounds and recover three balls in 39 minutes that violates.
The positive note for the Celtics was to see rookie forward Jyson Tatum immediately show his class by bringing a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, including six defenses and three assists.
The day also left the serious injury suffered by the Spanish Montenegrin pivotal wing Nikola Mirotic who received during the training a voluntary blow of his companion Bobby Portis who left him lying on the ground for several minutes with concussion and fracture of the upper jaw.
His team of Chicago Bulls announced in an official statement that Mirotic will have to be operated and lowered indefinitely, while studying the type of punishment that will receive Portis.
