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Anthony Davis scored 32 points and Elfrid Payton finished with a triple double as the New Orleans Pelicans kicked off their NBA season by crushing the Houston Rockets 131-112 on Wednesday.
Davis also had 16 rebounds and 8 assists and Payton finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Pélicans, who led on a straight line.
"I'm just taking what the defense gives me," said Davis. "It's only the first game – it's a good win, but we still have a lot of work to do."
"To win a win against a team like this after last season and after the end of the season, we wanted to set a tempo."
The Pelicans' dominant victory in front of a crowd of 18,000 spectators at the Toyota Center Arena in Texas was one of 11 games in the first full night of the 2018-19 NBA season.
The league's most valuable player, James Harden, flirted with a triple double, finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, but that was not enough because the Rockets did not follow the intensity of New Orleans, especially in defense.
Nikola Mirotic scored 30 points and 10 rebounds in the eruption while the Pelicans led with 29 points in advance.
Payton and Julius Randle were the two biggest additions during the off season. And with DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo joining other teams, the Pelicans will have to develop a new personality this season.
"We're not going to shoot the ball as well every night, but tonight we did a great job of imposing our will on defense, which has generated many opportunities for a quick break," Davis said. . "We executed our game plan at T. When we play like this, we will be hard to beat."
Many thought that the 2017-18 season of the Pelicans was over when the Cousins got injured in the mid-season due to an Achilles tendon injury. New Orleans rallied and swept Portland in the first round of the playoffs.
The Rockets coach, Mike D'Antoni, was waiting for more things from his experienced team at the opening night. Houston was the most prolific NBA three-pointer team last season with a record-breaking 65-17 win-loss record.
They have stormed the NBA and many see them as a legitimate threat this year to dethrone the Golden State Warriors.
"It's the first match of 82. We're going to straighten the boat today, tomorrow and the next day," said Antoni.
"We sort of let go of the rope at the end of the first half, obviously we have some things we need to work on, we have to get our legs back and then take care of them."
Eric Gordon scored 21 points, the highest number of the team. Chris Paul and PJ Tucker each had 19 points for the Rockets, who are trying to replace outgoing defensive specialists Trevor Ariza and Mbah a Moute with veteran Carmelo Anthony and mate James Ennis.
The Anthony reserve, which has bristled in the past about the idea of leaving the bench, finished with nine points on three out of ten shots in 27 minutes of play.
– Leonard wins his debut –
Kawhi Leonard also had 24 points and 12 rebounds in his Toronto debut. The Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-104 in the first game of the season for both teams.
"It's a match," said Leonard. "I can only see what's in front of me right now … it's just about everything now and what I have to do to be the best player for the Raptors."
Fred VanVleet added 14 points, while Pascal Siakam finished with 13 while Nick Nurse made his debut as head coach for the Raptors.
Kevin Love scored 21 points for Cleveland, who rebuilt after losing LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The win was a modest revenge for Toronto that had been eliminated from the playoffs by Cleveland over the past three seasons.
San Antonio striker DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points in his Spurs debut on Wednesday after being acquired from Toronto for Leonard during the off season.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and 19 rebounds while the Spurs defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-108.
In other games, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat 113-112 of the Charlotte Hornets, while Devin Booker scored 19 of his 35 points at the end of the fourth quarter. that the Phoenix Suns dominated the Dallas Mavericks. 121-100.
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