Biggest NBA Opening Night Overreactions to Celtics, Lakers, Bronny, More

The NBA's 2024-25 campaign is officially underway, and the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers gave us plenty to analyze on opening night.

In fact, whether it was Boston's three-point barrage, Mikal Bridges' busted jumper or Bronny James' early minutes, Tuesday produced plenty of fodder for overreactions.

The best can be found below.

The Celtics annihilated the Knicks, 132-109.

At one point late in the third quarter, it looked like they might break the single-game record of 29 made threes before the fourth even started.

By the time they tied that mark, the game was in hand, starters were filtering out and garbage time became a bit of a joke.

Boston's faithful were dying for that 30th triple, but the guys in green just kept missing.

Over and over.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Celtics had missed a whopping 13 straight three-point attempts and finished tied for the record.

The degree to which they were hunting threes, again, was comical.

But you can pretty much guarantee Tuesday won't be the only time Boston will threaten that mark this season.

In 2023-24, the Celtics led the league in three-point-attempt rate, with 47.1 percent of their shots coming from deep.

Tuesday, 61 of their 95 shots were from beyond the arc.

At some point, they're going to top 29.

And then, they're going to top whatever their new mark is in a later game.

Over the last few days before the season tipped off, Mikal Bridges' revamped jumper became a big topic of internet conversation.

His jumper was always sort of unique.

He'd raise the ball above his head, keep it there for maybe a split second and then give it a bit of a flip like Rashard Lewis.

And that was seemingly working just fine.

In 2020-21, he shot 42.5 percent from deep.

His career mark is 37.5 percent.

And over the last two seasons, he averaged 19.9 points.

And then, for some reason, he seemingly exaggerated all the quirks of his jumper over the summer and came to the New York Knicks with this.

His shot suddenly looks like a Lewis-Kyle Anderson hybrid, and he went just 2-of-19 from deep in the preseason.

In the first half against the Celtics on opening night, he was 0-of-5 from three.

Bridges admitted this adjustment was intentional, and it was looking like a full-blown disaster.

But then, in the second half on Tuesday, he just started letting it fly.

The moment of contemplation between catch and shot went away.

The release was suddenly smooth again.

He hit two threes and finished the game 7-of-13 from the field.

And if the entire preseason wasn't enough to convince him to simplify things, that second half certainly should have been.

Going back to the old form may be easier said than done.

Basketball players can get the yips.

But the quick, high release that made him one of the game's best three-and-D players with the Phoenix Suns is what the Knicks need from him.

Julius Randle did some good things in his first game with the Timberwolves.

He had four assists, and his ability to get to the paint collapsed L.A.'s defense on more than one occasion.

But it was also easy to see, for most of his time on the floor, how difficult it will be to fit Randle into this system and alongside players like Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels.

Regardless of what happens this season, Minnesota might be able to justify the move by pointing out the savings that came from dealing Karl-Anthony Towns' contract, but the Wolves just went to the conference finals last season.

And KAT's shooting and willingness to be a floor spacer were big reasons why.

Now, with McDaniels, Gobert and Randle all in the starting five, it feels like things could get awfully cramped against even mediocre defenses (which is what the Lakers were last season).

Having a big who commanded defensive attention at the three-point line was critical for those lineups.

And while Randle did have some interesting forays into the lane on Tuesday, a lot of his drives this season will replace possessions that might've been engineered by Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley.

It could be hard to argue those Randle drives are preferable.

He's long been a productive scorer and playmaker, but there's a reason the Knicks were actually better when he was off the floor over the last three seasons.

This was a legitimate toss-up last season.

According to the average of their ranks in various catch-all metrics from around the internet, Anthony Davis was 2023-24's sixth-best player.

LeBron James was seventh.

If you valued Anthony Davis' defensive impact, you might say he was the Lakers' best player last season.

If playmaking is more important to you, you might've gone with LeBron.

This season, the debate between the two will be a little easier to call.

LeBron turns 40 in December.

AD is still smack-dab in the middle of his prime.

So, this really shouldn't be all that surprising.

But even in a game against four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, Davis looked like the best and most explosive player on the floor on Tuesday.

He went for 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

He was everywhere.

On both ends of the floor.

He hit a three.

He was scoring at the rim and from the floater zone.

And his rim protection, which has long been an NBA constant, is a big part of why Minnesota only managed 103 points on opening night.

Davis won't average the numbers above, but don't be surprised to see him around 26 and 12, as LeBron leans a bit more heavily into playmaking this campaign.

LeBron James' career has featured plenty of all-time firsts, and he picked up another one on opening night.

Late in the second quarter, he checked into the game alongside his son, making he and Bronny the only father-son duo to share the floor in NBA history.

But Bronny's freshman campaign at USC, his few games in summer league and his limited run in the preseason all showed the same thing: Bronny is not an NBA-level player right now.

It made sense for coach JJ Redick to play them together in the first game.

Having that moment and not having to answer the "when will it happen?" questions early in the season are both wins.

But he played fewer than three minutes for a reason.

He was mostly in the corner on offense for a reason.

He's undersized.

He's struggled mightily to shoot ever since he arrived at USC.

But he's a willing defender with unparalleled pedigree.

And the G-League exists, at least in part, to develop prospects who aren't quite ready.

There, he can play with less pressure, focus on his development and do whatever the coaching staff needs him to to get ready to make a real impact at the NBA level..

This article has been shared from the original article on bleacherreport, here is the link to the original article.