Magic 95, Nets 85

After Vince Carter was traded from the Nets to the Magic in June, I wondered what the crowd’s reaction would be when he returned to New Jersey. If you recall, Carter is HEAVILY booed every time he visits Toronto, so it made me wonder if the Nets fans would see through his VC or give him a warm welcome back in the Nets home opener. Well, that question was answered early as Carter was given a lengthy ovation to lead off the game’s starting lineups.

Although, not everyone was cheering – I know this because I was there and I was booing. I appreciate Carter’s efforts and leadership in his 4 years in NJ, but he’s overrated and became more and more soft making him ineffective at times. Carter shut me up early though with a slam dunk to lead off the game. Carter shot 6-8, including two 3s, to total 16 points. However, his night only lasted 15 minutes because he rolled his ankle in the second quarter and did not return.

I don’t root for injuries and I certainly don’t doubt that he was hurt, but I have become too used to this with VC. I have seen him get ‘injured’ so many times that I can no longer tell when it is a legit injury of if there’s some sort of over reaction. In this case, Carter rolled on the ground as his team played defense, but I couldn’t really tell what was injured from my nosebleed season ticket seats. I realized it couldn’t be his oft injured knee though because he hopped up during a time out.

This game was owned by the Magic almost wire-to-wire mostly because of Dwight Howard. Superman totaled 20 points and 22 rebounds for the first 20-20 game in the NBA this season. He had so many dunks that I lost track. Not only that, but Howard owned Brook Lopez, who looked completely overmatched in this game.

Shooter of the Game: Ryan Anderson. The Nets throw-in player in the Carter deal is filling in nicely for the suspended Rashard Lewis. Anderson was 6-10 shooting and crushed many Nets runs with big buckets.

Celtics 118, Bulls 90

As The Ref previewed earlier in the day, the Celtics and Bulls squared off for the first time since their epic 7-game series from the 2009 playoffs. The hometeam Celtics owned this game though with a 15-point half time lead, and they never looked back.

Oh, and just in case the Bulls had any steam left for a comeback, Paul Pierce decided to prevent that. Pierce scored 20 of his 22 points in the third quarter to extend the Boston lead to 27 after three, and they went on to win by 28.

It’s not often that you see the defensive-first Celtics score 118 points. Needless to say, that’s how bad the Bulls defense was as the game went on. After a big win on Thursday night to start their season against the Spurs, this game has to be a real disappoint to Bulls fans.

Shooter of the Game: Eddie House. The unofficial backup point guard wasn’t pass first on Friday night by going 9-13 from the field and 4-7 from 3-point land by matching Pierce with 22 points to lead Boston. That’s some inspiring shooting.

Mavericks 94, Lakers 80

It was widely discussed on opening night after LA’s win, due to their early lopsided home-heavy schedule, that the Lakers could start 20-1. After the Mavericks’ performance on Friday night, the Lakers would need a 19-game win streak to accomplish that feat.

I don’t know if it was just that the Lakers were in a funk to start the game, or if it was the Mavericks who really kept the Lakers uncomfortable, but a dismal first half had LA in a 7-point hole at intermission. After it looked like the Lakers would make a run at the start of the second half, the Mavericks jumped up to a 22-point lead before you even knew it.

The Mavericks were led by Dirk Nowitzki (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Shawn Marion (18 points, 6 rebounds) to pad their large lead. But the elimination of a comeback attempt by LA was based on their 19 turnovers and large number of fouls (many on offense). Oh, and they really need Pau Gasol; they’re just not the same without him.

Stat of the Night: Marion not only had a nice game to lead his team to their first win of the season, but when he was on the floor the team was +37 in point differential. WOW. That’s probably the highest I’ve ever seen and certainly the highest I can ever recall. Even if you think this is a stupid stat (I kind of do), you have to respect that high of a number!

-Shooter