Fiery start to the season for the Bucks, who continue the path they walked to win the NBA last July. The new pieces begin to fit and the old ones, crowned by a Giannis Antetokounmpo who went to 32 points and 14 rebounds, already showed that they were going like silk. The Nets came to this opening day with doubts about not having Kyrie Irving and they leave with those same or more after the 127-104 endorsed by which, at the end of the season, can be their great threat.
The hostilities began, because they did, with the Bucks giving several initial blows. That’s where everything came in, testing from outside and winning second chances against some Nets in which Durant and Harden did not get anything. Giannis was adding, assuming plays and even putting a cap on Claxton as one of the best in his collection. The local team was a steamroller. Advantage that grew and grew, first at 21-8 and then at 31-12. They needed a change and her name was Patty Mills. The Australian, who with his team closed the Games by going to 42 points, is a good match for Harden if Irving is not there. 5/5 in triples to revive a team that was dying and began to improve in various aspects. Mills’ points also reacted to Harden, who made a couple of shots that he likes, complicating the verticality, and compacted the score five points away at the start of the second period.
The bench points made a good difference. Also that the Bucks were hungrier. The divided balls and the protection or not of the rebound tipped the balance in favor of the locals. Two very positive news in the novelties: Jordan Nwora, able to manufacture shots from scratch and be reliable, and Grayson Allen, who will be able to exploit his good shooting skills in this squad. The first will have more presence and the second is new. They added 25 between the two; Pat Connaughton added 20 in a day of those that he has where he spurs with everything he does.
There were several attempts by Steve Nash’s men to get back on the hook. The first, not counting the one already mentioned, was before the break and there did not need a decisive Giannis but without hitting everything, it was enough for the ball to move and Middleton and Holiday ordered the attacks. The second, if we are rigorous, no longer existed. They approached eight at one point in the third period, but Durant’s growth was insufficient against an absolutely choral rival and eager to make the public vibrate that raised him to the top of club basketball. The show, next to the entrance, included a recital by the Antetokounmpo brothers, also Thanasis, and even non-garbage minutes for Sandro Mamukelashvili, who makes your day happy just by looking at the back of the shirt. The distance grew beyond fifteen and with it the hostilities were ended.
There is good news in the Nets, like Griffin is like last year or Claxton can play blocks well with Harden. They are not yet at the level of the best Bucks, who were those who reached the last finals and those who appeared on the first day of the new campaign.
A night of revelry at the Fiserv Forum, to remember what happened three months ago and to dream of repeating, as one of the franchise owners predicted at the Ring ceremony, one or several times. The icing on the cake was a deserved victory against which, according to the pools, is the favorite.
