Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

It took some Luka magic and Dereck Lively II’s historic debut to spoil Victor Wembanyama’s NBA debut on Wednesday night as the Mavs picked up the 126-119 road win over the Spurs.

1 of 3: Doncic (33 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, game-winner) became only the 3rd player in NBA history to record a 30-point triple-double in his team’s season opener, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019) and Oscar Robertson (1966, 1961)
Quite Lively: Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II (16 points, 10 rebounds, 7-8 FG) became the 2nd player in NBA history to record 15+ points, 10+ rebounds on 85+% shooting in an NBA debut, joining Tom Hoover (16 points, 17 rebounds, 85.7 FG% in 1963)
Wemby’s Debut: Wembanyama finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in 23 minutes as he battled foul trouble. He showed flashes of brilliance – blocking Kyrie on his 1st defensive possession, knocking down a 3 for his 1st bucket, sparking a 4th quarter run with 9 points in a 3 minute span – but will look for his 1st NBA win in Game 2 on Friday

Game, Spida. | NBAE via Getty Images

⚔️ Cavaliers 114, Nets 113

Donovan Mitchell opened his 2nd season in Cleveland with a game-winning 3-pointer with 12 seconds left as the Cavs edged out the Nets 114-113. The game also saw a pair of season-opener records set:

Cam Thomas’ 36 points off the Brooklyn bench set the record for most points by a reserve in a team’s opening game (previously held by Milwaukee’s Ricky Pierce in 1989)
Max Strus splashed 7 3-pointers on his way to 27 points, setting the Cavs’ franchise record for 3s in a debut

🍀 Celtics 108, Knicks 104

How good was Kristaps Porzingis in his Boston debut? No player in the franchise’s storied history has scored more in their Celtics debut than KP’s 30, including a tiebreaking 3-pointers with 1:29 left in Boston’s 108-104 win over his 1st team

The go-ahead 3 was 1 of KP’s 5 on the night; he also added 8 boards and 4 blocks
Who held the record before Porzingis? Dominique Wilkins, who scored 25 in his C’s debut back in 1994 – also against the Knicks
Jayson Tatum dropped 34 points and 11 boards to open his 7th NBA season. As he entered the arena, Tatum joked about getting old, but quickly passed that title to Jrue Holiday pregame

Zion’s back. | NBAE via Getty Images

Must-see highlights from the rest of a 12-game night:

⚜️ Pelicans 111, Grizzlies 104: Zion is back! Williamson finished with 23 points, 7 boards and 1 massive poster in his 1st regular season game since January. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram combined for 43 in the win, while Desmond Bane had a game-high 31 in the loss
👑 Kings 130, Jazz 114: Malik Monk may have lit the beam all the way from Utah with this poster dunk (here’s every angle, you’re welcome). Oh, and Harrison Barnes dropped 33, hitting 10 of his 1st 11 shots of the season
🐝 Hornets 116, Hawks 110: Which dunk connection is your favorite? Trae Young off the backboard to Jalen Johnson. Or LaMelo Ball to Brandon Miller. Life is full of tough choices
🔮 Magic 116, Rockets 86: The Magic opened their 35th season with a 30-point win over Houston. Cole Anthony scored a game-high 20 while Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet each had 14 in their Rockets debuts
🏁 Pacers 143, Wizards 120: Bruce Brown scored 24 points in his Pacers debut, while Tyrese Haliburton had his 1st 20+ point, 10+ assist game (he had 18 last season)
🦖 Raptors 97, T-Wolves 94: Dennis Schroder put up 22 points and 7 dimes in his Raptors debut. Scottie Barnes stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 8 boards, 5 dimes and 5 blocks and finished this tough and-1 against Rudy Gobert at the rim
🔥 Heat 103, Pistons 102: Bam Adebayo (22 points, 8 rebounds) and Jimmy Butler 19 points, 13 rebounds, 4 dimes) led the way as Miami spoiled the return game for Cade Cunningham (30 points, 9 assists)
⛈️Thunder 124, Bulls 104: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points, 10 assists) joined Russell Westbrook as the only players in Thunder/Sonics franchise history to record 30+ points and 10+ assists in a season opener
⛵ Clippers 123, Blazers 111: Paul George (27) and Kawhi Leonard (23) combined for 50 points as the Clippers opened the season with a W. Scoot Henderson had 11 points and 4 assists in his NBA debut

Rookies’ 1st Baskets

Brandon Miller: The No. 2 pick got the 3 to drop for his first NBA bucket, finishing with 13 points and a Hornets win
Chet Holmgren: The Thunder rookie created his own shot with the smooth turnaround jumper from the corner
Scoot Henderson: The No. 3 pick showed off his float game for his 1st bucket as a Blazer
Amen Thompson: The No. 4 pick hit the pull-up jumper just inside the 3-point line for his Rockets bucket
Ausar Thompson: The Pistons rookie made just one shot in his NBA debut, but had 7 boards, 5 blocks and 3 assists
Bilal Coulibaly: The Wizards rookie got the friendly bounce on the corner 3 for his first NBA bucket
Jordan Hawkins: The Pelicans rookie’s first shot and make was a catch-and-shoot 3 from the top of the key to beat the shot clock
Jaime Jaquez Jr.: The Heat rook turned defense into offense with his 1st steal and 1st bucket in the Miami win

Newcomers’ 1st buckets

Kristaps Porzingis: Threw down the alley-oop for his 1st bucket as a Celtic
Jordan Poole: A big block by Daniel Gafford got Washington on the break, with Poole finishing with a reverse layup for his 1st Wizards bucket
Marcus Smart: Needed just 90 seconds to get his 1st 3-pointer as a Grizzly
Jrue Holiday: Called his own number as he stepped into a 3-pointer for his 1st Boston bucket

DAME-GIANNIS DEBUT LEADS TNT DOUBLEHEADER

The Giannis and Dame era officially starts for Milwaukee tonight. | NBAE via Getty Images

The final 2 teams to open their 2023-24 season meet on Thursday (7:30 ET, TNT) as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the new-look Bucks host reigning MVP and 2-time scoring champ Joel Embiid and the Sixers.

MVP vs. MVP: This matchup features 2 of the 3 most recent Kia MVPs in Giannis (2019, 2020) and Embiid (2023), as the league’s top individual honor has gone to an international player for 5 straight seasons.

30+ PPG x 3: Last season, a record-tying 6 players averaged at least 30 points per game. Half of them will be on the court tonight with Embiid (33.1, 1st), Lillard (32.2, 3rd) and Giannis (31.1, 5th)
New Coaches: Both teams are led by new head coaches; Nick Nurse arrives in Philly from Toronto (where he won the 2019 title), while Adrian Griffin gets his first head coaching job in Milwaukee. Can Griffin repeat Nurse’s feat of winning a title as a rookie head coach?

Stepping Up: With James Harden (10.7 apg) not traveling to Milwaukee with the Sixers, who will step up and fill that playmaking void? Tyrese Maxey led Philly in assists during the preseason (7.6 per 36 minutes)

After not meeting on the court in 5 years, LeBron and KD play twice in the same week. | NBAE via Getty Images

The doubleheader rises in the East, but it sets in the West with the Lakers hosting the Suns (10 ET, TNT) after the 2 teams fared differently on opening night.

Suns Up: Suns coach Frank Vogel called Tuesday’s game a “character win” as his team answered a big 3rd quarter from Golden State to secure a 108-104 win over the Warriors, behind Devin Booker’s 32 points and 8 dimes
Lakers Fall: The Lakers were unable to spoil ring night against the defending champion Nuggets, falling 119-107. Expect a more aggressive Anthony Davis tonight after he was held scoreless in the 2nd half: “I just have to shoot it more”
29 Minutes: In Game 1 of his 21st season, LeBron James scored 21 points in 29 minutes, as L.A. appears to be taking a cautious approach with his minutes
Injury Report: Bradley Beal missed the season opener due to a back injury. Both Beal and Booker are listed as doubtful on the latest Suns injury report

BEHIND A NEW ALL-TIME INTERNATIONAL RECORD 🌍

The last 5 Kia NBA MVP’shave gone to players born outside the US, with a rising tide of global talent entering a new year. | NBAE via Getty Images

In 1992-93, months after the Dream Team showcased this game to a waiting world, opening night rosters featured 24 players born outside the USA.

When the 2023-24 season opened on Tuesday, that number went to 125.

It’s the 3rd straight year with 120 players. 10th straight with 100+
Every team has a player born outside the USA on it
Canada (10 players) leads the way for the 10th straight year
3 international players have won the last 5 Kia MVPs
The top 5 scorers last season were from 5 countries
Victor Wembanyama just became the 14th international player selected 1st overall

Look at the jump 10-20 years after the Dream Team, in the 2000s and 2010s. | NBAE via Getty Images

You can point to the Dream Team. You can point to Hakeem, Dirk, Yao, the Spurs’ Big 3, the Gasols and the great internationals. You can point to social media’s global reach. You can point to Basketball Without Borders, the NBA Academy, Basketball Africa League, Jr. NBA.

You can even point to Hank Biasatti, the Italian-born, Canada-raised guard, who was the 1st international player and played in the league’s first game in 1946.

But as currents around the world have collided, the rise of the game overseas has seen the league do this:

1946-47: 5 international players
1953-54: 2
1963-64: 1
1973-74: 2
1983-84: 8
1992-93: 24 (After Dream Team)
2003-04: 73
2013-14: 92
2023-24: 125

Where’s the geographic center of star power right now? Take a look at this cool ESPN visualization – and how the geographic center of MVP candidates has changed over the years. Now? It’s in Spain.

Going into 2023-24, will the trend continue?

Note: 2-way players started being included in international count in 2021-22

SPECIAL GUEST: PAU GASOL ON THE GAME GOING GLOBAL 📝

Pau Gasol checks in, just for Starting 5 readers. | NBAE

When Pau Gasol heard his name called as the 3rd overall draft pick in the 2001 NBA draft, there were a total of 44 international players in the NBA. Today the number stands at a record 125 international players on a roster and all 30 teams have at least one international player on their squad.

In light of two international NBA MVPs facing each other tonight, we caught up with the recent Hall of Fame inductee to talk about how the game has gone global and how he’s helped advise rising international stars.

It’s amazing to be where we are now.

The last three MVPs – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid – being born outside of the U.S. is pretty amazing. It’s a real reflection of the growth of the international game. It’s hard to imagine when the numbers were very small early on, but I am just proud of having been part of that process and journey.

I don’t know what type of influence I have had on the great players that play today, especially the international ones, but you like to think you had some type of influence. It’s a much more fast-paced game than when I came into the league!

My advice for some of the rising international players was always just encouraging them to work hard, to not set any limitations with how far they can go and how good they can be. Allow their work to speak for itself. Take advantage of their opportunity because that window in that time will go by quicker than you think.

And to really enjoy that journey.

CRASHING THE GLASS IS BACK ♻️

Offensive rebounding has climbed back the past 2 years. | NBAE

When you’re watching the league right now, expect to see a few more players hanging back.

After offensive rebounding fell off a cliff for much of the 2010s, the pendulum appears to be swinging in the other direction.

The average offensive rebound rate has steadily climbed each of the past 2 seasons, as teams weigh the risk reward of crashing the offensive glass.

Reward: Offensive boards can lead to easy cutbacks & more shots overall for an offense
Risk: By crashing the glass, you’re more susceptible to the other team going out on the break

Clint Capela finished 2nd in the league in OReb last year, and grabbed 6 in his 2023-24 debut. | NBAE via Getty Images

In the 2010s, most teams saw the risk outweighing the reward, with offensive rebounding rates falling dramatically.

Now, it appears teams are recalculating that risk/reward.

The Advantage: Teams with a higher offensive rebound percentage won 57% of games last season
In 2022-23, 6 teams posted an offensive rebound rate over 30%. That hadn’t happened since 11 teams did it in 2014-15
The 6 teams: Rockets (34.4%) Knicks (31.8%), Raptors (31.6%), Jazz (30.8%), Suns (30.7%), Grizzlies (30.2%)
Success?: Half of those 6 teams made the playoffs (Knicks, Suns, Grizzlies), 1 made the Play-In (Raptors) and 2 missed the postseason (Rockets, Jazz)

Call him Jimmy Boards. Butler pulled down 8 (eight!) offensive rebounds in the Heat’s season opener. | NBAE via Getty Images

The key is finding the right balance between the risk and the reward.

Houston led the NBA in offensive rebound rate (34.4%) and 2nd chance points (16.7 per game), but they also allowed the most opponent fast break points (17.5 per game)

5 teams ranked in the top half of the league in all 3 categories: offensive rebound rate (OREB), 2nd chance points (2ND) and fewest opponent fast break points (OFBP).

Knicks: 2nd in OREB, 3rd in 2ND, 5th in OFBP
Suns: 5th in OREB, 8th in 2ND, 9th in OFBP
Pistons: 8th in OREB, 7th in 2ND, 13th in OFBP
Thunder: 12th in OREB, 13th in 2ND, 2nd in OFBP

Bucks: 14th in OREB, 10th in 2ND, 8th in OFBP