NBA Opening Night Reaction and Analysis

 Last night the 2025-2026 NBA season tipped off with two exciting Western Conference matchups. I'm going to break down what I saw in both games and what I expect moving forward.

Oklahoma City Thunder 125, Houston Rockets 124

The defending champions looked primed for another long playoff run on their home floor for Ring Ceremony Night, holding off the new look Houston Rockets in two overtimes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 35 points on 12/26 field goals, but played nearly 50 minutes.

The game was called a "heavyweight fight" by Reggie Miller, but we didn't get to see both teams at full steam. Fred Van Vleet will miss the entire season due to injury, while Dorian Finney-Smith and Ja'Sean Tate both sat as they recover from their respective ankle surgeries. Amen Thompson only scored 18 points in 39 minutes, and despite his -11 plus/minus was definitely needed down the stretch, but did not finish the game due to what appeared to be calf cramping. 

On the other side, Jalen Williams sat as he heals from wrist surgery, and both Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren missed clutch moments after fouling out. 

The game was indeed a back-and-forth bout between two teams who should contend this season. Here are my key takeaways:

OKC: The Thunder should win sixty games again, and Shai will compete for MVP. Chet looked great, but the Rockets played a lot of zone and a great amount of his points were spot up, so we will need to see a larger sample before we can say he has taken a leap. I still stand by my prediction that these guys will be in the Western Conference Finals if they are healthy.

Houston: I mentioned both Thompson and Sengun for awards in my last post- and they did not disappoint. Both look ready for more attention this season both from other teams and the media. Sengun led all scorers with 39 points on 12/24 shooting, racking up 49 minutes himself. That being said, I can't help but wonder what they would look like with Van Vleet suiting up. There was a stretch of the third and fourth quarter that it seemed like Kevin Durant- the guy they brought in to score late in games- did not even get looked at by his own team. They need a ball handler that can set up the offense and get guys the ball in their spots. Amen Thompson isn't that quite yet, and Reed Sheppard off the bench looked exactly like a guy who hasn't played many games in the league should look like. We will see if they make a move, or hope Amen can grow into that role this season.

General thoughts: This game made me excited for future matchups, and possibly even the birth of a rivalry for years to come. Both teams are around the same age for the most part and have similar trajectories. Kevin Durant's history with OKC makes it even more juicy. I put Houston in the "pretender" category. I still have them there despite the great showing last night.

Golden State Warriors 119, Los Angeles Lakers 109

The Warriors came out as they always do against LeBron's teams- extremely competitive and looking to steal a win. Except this time, there was no LeBron, but there was a white guy who played similarly to him named Luka.

Steph Curry struggled to start the game, until a questionable flagrant on Marcus Smart got him a look from the charity stripe, and that was all he needed to get going. He ended up with 23 points, eight of which came from the free throw line. Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 31 though, over half of which came from the free throw line. Weird.

Meanwhile the Lakers looked like they usually do at the beginning of a new season with no chemistry, dumb mental mistakes, and poor shooting. Luka was the only reason to tune into this nightcap, as he wracked up 43 points on 17 of 27 shooting, along with 12 rebounds and 9 assists. He definitely looked in better shape, but nobody is fit enough to carry an NBA team for the full 48 minutes against a motion offense full of moving screens like the Warriors'.

Golden State: Kuminga looked great considering the stale mate that went on for most of the Summer. He also started making shots from outside, something he hasn't done consistently yet in his short career. The color commentators couldn't help but applaud Kerr and his coaching staff for getting him on board to play, but I know better. This is the typical attempt by the Warriors to drive up the value of a player before shipping him off for someone the ball club actually wants. Kerr learned it from Popovich and has done it with D'Angelo Russell in the past, as well as attempted to (and failed) with James Wiseman. Watch for JK to be moved by the deadline, despite him getting to start- and produce- in the meantime.

LA: The Lakers struggled getting good looks and Coach Redick in the post-game admitted they missed out on some communication. Hmm, sounds like they had a player missing. Oh yes that's right- they played last night with a LeBron James-sized hole on the roster. While the King sits due to sciatica problems, expect Luka's burden to be increased (he led all players with 41 minutes). Hopefully they can shore up the self-inflicted issues they had last night.

General thoughts: Yes it's only one game, but Luka gave me confidence in my MVP prediction. Again, I don't see the Lakers truly competing past the second round or so, depending on matchups, but he may have a big enough splash statistically to earn that hardware. The Warriors did exactly what I expected them to do: executing their offense perfectly, hitting timely threes to seize any momentum, and mucking up the game just enough on defense to take most of the Lakers' scorers out of rhythm. I still don't see them going too far either.

Lastly, before I go...

I've got to complain about the NBA. But to be fair, I will also compliment them so I don't seem too negative.

The officiating has got to be fixed. I understand its just as much a business as it is a sport, but dear God has the officiating got to be fixed. The Oklahoma City game featured a play where Josh Okogie fouled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the entirety of the court until he got beat- fortunately for the defender SGA missed the shot, only for Chet to fall on the floor and *then* have the whistle called because he grazed Okogie's leg. Later, Durant reached over Cason Wallace and poked the ball out of bounds without touching the offensive player at all. This was called a foul on Durant- who later fouled out and robbed us of an opportunity to see him win the game in a contentious Paycom Center. Finally, Durant and Jabari Smith both attempted to call a timeout right in front of an on-looking official, Zach Zarba, despite them not having timeouts. After both Oklahoma City players and fans let the referees hear about it, they convened for a few minutes, only to decide not to hit the Rockets with what should have been a game sealing technical. And that's just the first game of the night...

Either call the game tight, which isn't fun for anyone- players or viewers- or let the guys play (within reason obviously). It is so obvious to watch today's NBA referees manipulate the games to keep it close, or to get a superstar going, or to foul out a key player to add drama. Just let basketball be played, please. My mom and dad don't even want to watch anymore because they can not stand the officiating.

Now, to compliment my favorite league so that I don't feel bad walking away from the keyboard. The NBA on NBC theme song being back is absolutely amazing. Some of my best memories are being in the driveway, pretending to hit the game winning shot in the finals, humming that legendary track. Although the games being on different networks and channels all week isn't appealing to me, I do appreciate at the very least that soundtrack being relevant again. Thank you, NBA and NBC.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments!