Irving has 50 points in Brooklyn debut, Nets fall to Wolves
NEW YORK (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 50 points in a record-setting Nets debut, but lost his balance and missed a potential winning shot that allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to pull out a 127-126 victory over Brooklyn in overtime Wednesday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 36 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, and Andrew Wiggins added 21 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:19 remaining.
Irving had the ball in his hands with a chance to cap his dazzling debut with a victory, following a Nets timeout. He ran the clock down and then began his drive, but lost his balance near the foul line. He retained his dribble, got up and shot, but his jumper missed.
After signing with the Nets in July, Irving broke Kiki Vandeweghe's record for most points by a player in his first game with a team. Vandeweghe scored 47 points for Portland at Kansas City on Oct. 27, 1984.
Irving finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. Caris LeVert added 20 points.
NUGGETS 108, TRAIL BLAZERS 100
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 20 points and 13 rebounds despite sitting much of the first half because of foul trouble, and Denver spoiled the opening game of Portland's 50th season.
Will Barton added 19 points for the Nuggets, who also snapped Portland's 18-game winning streak in home openers, the longest streak in league history.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 32 points and eight assists, and Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 19 rebounds in his Portland debut.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the Western Conference semifinals, won by the Blazers in seven games.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Ben Simmons scored 24 points and Philadelphia beat Boston.
Gordon Hayward led the Celtics with 25 points. Jayson Tatum had 21. Kemba Walker scored 12 points on 4-of-18 shooting in his Boston debut, and Al Horford had 16 in his first game with the 76ers.
Furkan Korkmaz and Tobias Harris buried consecutive 3-pointers for Philadelphia — after the Sixers had missed 21 of 24 through three quarters — to stretch the lead to 10.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 34 points and nine rebounds and Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 points in the European pair's long-awaited first game together, leading Dallas past Washington.
Porzingis missed his first four shots before taking a break and coming back to score nine points in the final 2:45 of the first quarter. The 7-foot-3 Latvian acquired in a blockbuster deal with the New York Knicks before the trading deadline last season was 7 of 16 from the field.
Doncic and Porzingis traded long 3-pointers throughout the game, finishing 7 of 16 between them (4 of 9 for Doncic, 3 of 7 for Porzingis). Doncic was 12 of 19 overall.
Washington rookie Rui Hachimura, the first Japanese-born player drafted in the first round, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley Beal scored 19 points less than a week after the All-Star guard signed a $72 million, two-year extension that will go through the 2022-23 season, with a player option after that.
MIAMI (AP) — Justise Winslow scored 27 points, rookie Kendrick Nunn scored 24 in his NBA debut and Miami ran away in the fourth quarter to beat Memphis.
Goran Dragic scored 19 points for Miami, which played without Jimmy Butler because of personal reasons. Nunn and fellow rookie Tyler Herro started in the backcourt instead.
Bam Adebayo had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, and Winslow added seven rebounds and seven assists.
Ja Morant, the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, scored 14 points and had four assists for Memphis. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 17 points.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andre Drummond had 32 points and 23 rebounds, and Luke Kennard made three 3-pointers in the final six minutes in Detroit's opening victory over Indiana.
Kennard scored 30 points, a career best, and matched his career high with six 3s.
Domantas Sabonis had 27 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana. Myles Turner added 25 points, and Malcolm Brogdon had 22 in his Pacers debut.
SPURS 120, KNICKS 111
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points, Bryn Forbes added 20 and San Antonio, spoiling No. 2 overall pick RJ Barrett's debut with New York.
Barrett had 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting with five rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes. Marcus Morris led New York with 26 points, and Julius Randle had 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Dejounte Murray, who played in his first game since tearing his right ACL in a preseason game Oct. 7, had 18 points, including a 3-pointer with five minutes remaining that put San Antonio up 105-97. The 6-foot-5 point guard had six assists and eight rebounds.
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker had 22 points and 10 assists, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 21 points and Phoenix beat Sacrament in Monte Williams' first games as the coach of the Suns.
Ricky Rubio had 11 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and four steals in his first game with the Suns after signing a three-year, $51 million deal. Deandre Ayton added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Buddy Hield led the Kings with 28 points. Luke Walton made his Sacramento coaching debut.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 32 points and 12 rebounds to lead Utah past Oklahoma City.
Mitchell scored 22 points in the second half. Bojan Bogdanovic added 16 points, and Royce O'Neale chipped in with 14 for the Jazz. Rudy Gobert grabbed 14 rebounds.
Mike Conley went 1 of 16 from the field in his Utah debut after spending his first 12 seasons with Memphis. He missed his first 12 shots before finally scoring on a floater in the lane with 5.9 seconds left in the third quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting for the Thunder, and Chris Paul added 22 points and eight rebounds.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rookie PJ Washington hit seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to help Charlotte open the post-Kemba Walker era with a victory over Chicago.
The Hornets made 23 3-pointers, the most in franchise history in a regulation game. The record is 24 in a double-overtime game. Devonte Graham had 23 points on 6-of-7 3-point shooting and added eight assists.
Lauri Markkanen led Chicago with 35 points and 17 rebounds.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and nine rebounds in Orlando's victory over Cleveland.
Evan Fournier scored 16 points for Orlando, and Markelle Fultz had 12 points and six assists in his Magic debut. Kevin Love had 11 points and 18 rebounds for Cleveland in John Beilein's first game as coach.