Washington, Oct 24 (EFE).- Minnesota Timberwolves suffered this Thursday to achieve their first victory of the 2024-25 season against the Sacramento Kings, while the Denver Nuggets debuted with a loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The six teams that still had to make their debut in this campaign did so today, in four games in which the second victory of the Boston Celtics, current champions, or the debut victory of Klay Thompson in Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks also stood out.
WIZARDS 102 – 122 CELTICS
The Washington Wizards wanted to surprise by lining up their two rookies Alexandre Sarr (number 2 in the draft) and Carlton Carrington (number 14) in the starting five, but the Celtics were too much of a rival.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum added 52 points between them, which helped the Celtics overcome the few problems that Jordan Poole put them in during the first quarter.
The rookies had a discreet first day in the NBA, so the Wizards were supported by Poole’s 26 points and 18 from Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas, also debuting in the capital franchise.
MAVERICKS 120 – 109 SPURS
The current Western champion debuted with the long-awaited debut of Klay Thompson, who with 6 of 10 from the 3-point line, broke the points record for a rookie in the Dallas Mavericks.
Thompson scored 22 points to complement Luka Doncic’s 28 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the Mavericks’ victory.
Both surpassed the numbers of the young French star Victor Wembanyama, who had to settle for 17 points – with a poor 5 of 18 in field goals (27.8%) – and 9 rebounds.
Chris Paul, Thompson’s teammate last season on the Golden State Warriors, made his debut alongside Wembanyama on the Spurs.
Paul’s debut was much less sweet than Thompson’s, with only 3 points on 1 of 6 field goals (16.7%), he grabbed 7 rebounds and distributed 8 assists.
KINGS 115 – 117 TIMBERWOLVES
Julius Randle vindicated himself against the Kings after the criticism he received after the opening game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The newcomer to Minnesota scored 33 points in the hard-fought victory for the Timberwolves, who trailed for much of the game.
Anthony Edwards contributed another 32 points to the Timberwolves’ tally.
The best of the Kings was also debutant DeMar DeRozan, who had 26 points and 8 rebounds. Keegan Murray had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while his teammate Domantas Sabonis was close with 24 points and 8 rebounds.
NUGGETS 87 – 102 THUNDER
Denver’s Ball Arena swallowed its pride to applaud Russell Westbrook in his debut with the Nuggets, but his game was quite discreet: 6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Nikola Jokic had an excellent triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, but the Nuggets missed more points from the Serbian.
In front of them they had one of the revelation teams last season: the Oklahoma City Thunder, who took the lead during the first quarter and never gave up the lead regardless of the fact that they had the 3-time NBA MVP in front of them.
Chet Holmgren completed a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 28 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
(c) EFE Agency
