10 takeaways from the NBA's opening night

Tatum made eight of his 11 shots from behind the arc on his way to 37 points in just three quarters of play. He shot 14-for-18 overall, and added 10 assists against a single turnover. 

Don't be surprised if someone sends the highlights from this game to his Team USA coach, Steve Kerr.

Boston's three-point barrage isn't slowing down.

The Celtics attempted 42.5 three-pointers per game last season, tops in the NBA. Tuesday night, they put up 61 triples, tying an NBA record by making 29 of them.

Tatum did the most damage, but Brown was 5-for-9, Derrick White shot 6-for-10 from distance and Jrue Holiday went 4-for-6. With Al Horford going 3-for-5 behind the arc, the Celtics starting lineup combined for 26 threes. 

If Payton Pritchard did better than 1-for-9, the Celtics would have set a record. Unfortunately, he didn't get to try a halfcourt buzzer-beater, his true specialty.

The new-look Knicks still can't guard Boston.

This summer, the Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges and re-signed the newly-acquired OG Anunoby, in part to counter the Celtics' collection of talented wing players. Trading for Karl-Anthony Towns would let the Knicks play five-out alongside Jalen Brunson and another good defender in Josh Hart. But they couldn't run Boston off the three-point line on a night where the Celtics were red-hot.

Dalton Knecht may be the Lakers' best offensive reserve.

Before the game, TNT's Charles Barkley praised rookie Dalton Knecht, saying, "Letting the Lakers get Dalton Knecht was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. That's a bad boy right there. Dalton Knecht: remember that name, y'all."

Knecht looked good in his first NBA game, making a three-pointer, driving to the hoop and finding Jaxson Hayes for a dunk with a slick pass.

Knecht finished his NBA debut with five points, two assists and a steal, while the Lakers were seven points better than the Wolves in his 16 minutes.

Bronny James and his father made history.

With four minutes left in the second quarter with the Lakers leading 51-35, LeBron James and his son, Bronny, entered the game together, the first father-son duo to play together in NBA history.

The crowd at Crypto.com Arena, which featured baseball father-son duo Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., roared as the LeBrons entered the game. They cheered again at the brief two-man game between the Jameses ended in a miss by senior, and when LeBron set up Bronny for an open three, which he missed.

The younger James exited after 2:31 had passed, in which the Lakers were outscored 7-2. As if playing with his own father didn't make him look young, Bronny was also matched up against 37-year-old Joe Ingles, a player 17 years and four days older than him.

Anthony Davis looked like the DPOY

Rudy Gobert may be the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, but in the opening game of this season, the Lakers center was the dominant defensive force. Davis had a monster game with 36 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks, looking like a serious contender for DPOY — or MVP.

In a game where Gobert blocked one shot, his own shot was blocked three times — once by Austin Reaves, once by Rui Hachimura and once by AD.

It's always hard for a player like Gobert, who has one multiple DPOY awards, to overcome voter fatigue and repeat. It's especially hard if you're getting blocked more than you're blocking everyone else.

The old players looked old

37-year-old Mike Conley missed all five of his three-pointers, shot 1-for-7 and turned the ball over three times. He was -22. 37-year-old Ingles missed his one shot and delivered one assist in a game where he looked very slow. 

Even LeBron James had an unimpressive game by his standards, scoring 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting and uncharacteristically missing a few easy shots — including a missed layup that set the all-time NBA record for missed shots.

Both teams are increasing their three-point attempts, if not their makes.

Both Minnesota and Los Angeles have talked about getting their three-point attempts up in 2024-25, after a year where they ranked 23rd and 28th in the NBA. The teams did put more shots from behind the arc in this opener, but not with a ton of success. Minnesota was 13-for-41, while the Lakers went just 5-for-30.

That didn't matter due to how well Los Angeles played in the paint. The Lakers dominated on the offensive glass early, had more blocked shots and shot 57% on their two-pointers. Part of the dominance was due to Gobert's defensive attention on Davis, while the Minnesota frontcourt of Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels failed to corral boards.

TNT looked unready for their final season

Perhaps this was a result of the same cost-cutting that led to TNT's parent company not matching other networks' bids for the NBA's TV package, but TNT's broadcast lost video multiple times during the telecast. In their final season of NBA coverage, this was a rough start.

Not only were there technical issues, but there was a workplace safety issue. Broadcasting from outdoors in Boston, "Inside The NBA" saw Shaquille O'Neal lose his balance on a wet ramp doing a very slow-motion version of the show's classic race to the video board. Let's hope this isn't a trend, because O'Neal's artificial hip can't take this stress.