The new NBA season started with fireworks this early Wednesday morning and the exhibitions of two of its greatest stars. The reigning MVP of the league, the Canadian, had to contain his emotion during the ceremony to present the championship rings to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then it took a long time to get going, but it ended up deciding, with a free throw in the second overtime and 35 points, the victory of the locals over a renewed and tough Houston Rockets by 125-124. In the second game of the night, the Slovenian Luka Doncic did his thing with 43 points, but his magic was not enough to lift the Los Angeles Lakers against the veteran Golden State Warriors, who took the away victory 109-119.
The first meeting of the 2025-2026 season was a truly exhausting thriller in which the Rockets shone, led by Kevin Durant (23 points and 9 rebounds), but led by the Turkish Alperen Sengun, imperial in the debut of his fifth season in the NBA with 39 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. It was very effective in the first half of the match, and left Gilgeous-Alexander with five points, an unprecedented record throughout last year, when he also finished as the competition’s scoring king with an average of 32.7 points.
Despite a modest night by his standards, with a series of 12 of 26 in field goals and 1 of 9 in triples, Shai was able to recover in the second half. In the last quarter, when OKC trailed by 12 points, he scored the same number and tied the game with 2.1 seconds left with a jump shot near the rim to force the first overtime. There he missed the potential winning shot, but in the final overtime his wrist did not tremble with the decisive free throws.
In a regular game by his standards, the MVP led his team with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, the third time in history that the Most Valuable Player of the previous season reached these records, and Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. “He finished with 35 and had a weak night, that’s just him,” pointed out his teammate Alex Caruso. “He always stays in the game, he understands that there are 48 minutes and 82 games, and that he will not be perfect all the time,” Mark Daigneault, his coach, praised him. Chet Holmgren, with 28 points and 7 rebounds, also stood out for the Thunder on opening night.
Another who shone at the level of the greatest legends of his franchise was , although it was not enough for the Lakers to overcome the Warriors with him. His 43 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists to start his first full season in LA placed the 26-year-old Slovenian star in the company of Kobe Bryant (2007) and Elgin Baylor (1959), the only precedents with a start of 40 or more points with the Los Angeles team. The magician from Ljubljana, yes, was not at all fine from the line of three (2-10).
Luka lit it up in his 1st opening night:
43 PTS (career-high for a season opener)
12 REB
9 AST
2 STL
1 BLKDončić joins Kobe Bryant (2007) and Elgin Baylor (1959) as the only Lakers to record 40+ PTS in a season opener 🪄
— NBA (@NBA)
He show of Doncic was countered by the craft of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. The Golden State star amassed 23 points and 4 assists, while his new luxury teammate had his best game with Warrior with 31 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield contributed 17 points, the second coming off the bench. With a run of 19-4 to open the third period, the visitors broke a match that they once led by 17.
Although Austin Reaves was inspired in the final period with 13 of his 26 points, the threat of a comeback was not enough for the Lakers in the season opener. , who is about to turn 41 and will participate in his 23rd season in the NBA, an absolute record for any player, it will last until at least mid-November due to sciatica. The Angelenos will have to play these first games without him.
