Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Boy With a Red Vest; Paul Cézanne; 1888-90

Damian Lillard didn’t really need to do anything in particular in his Milwaukee Bucks debut on Thursday in the team’s home opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. Everyone already believes that Milwaukee is a superpower based off of a few preseason stretches for Dame and Giannis Antetokounmpo, plus the simple basketball logic that this pick-and-roll is unstoppable, and that having either Giannis or Dame have defensive attention on a teammate unlike anything they’ve ever experienced in the NBA creates the necessary space to go wild.

If Dame’s debut was not very flashy, or even a little underwhelming, few would have believed in the Bucks’ potential to claim another title less. It’s plainly obvious this pairing is a two-man roadmap to success.

And if there was any doubt out there that Lillard still has it, that Dame on the Bucks is pure magic, that this is going to work … well, 39 points should quell those concerns.

This is a new definition of high pick-and-roll. Brook Lopez and friends are setting screens at the logo … and defenders can’t go under, because Dame pulls from there. Lillard’s zip is on point in getting to the rim and drawing contact — 17 free throws on the night, all makes. He actually only shot 4/12 from deep, which is a reminder that most nights all of this will be more efficient from the floor. No turnovers (he’s always been good at protecting the ball), four assists.

We’ve all known that defense would be an issue for Milwaukee: that happens when you trade Jrue Holiday, one of the best individual guard defenders in the league, for Dame, who is not that. I’m not sure how much of Philadelphia’s 117 points was Bucks failure and how much was the Sixers having a strong attack themselves and Tyrese Maxey taking the first step toward an obvious All-Star season.

Eight three-point attempts, eight made free throws, eight assists. I like that line a lot for Maxey. He ended up with more shot attempts overall than Joel Embiid, albeit playing four additional minutes. (Maxey played 40 minutes, and Embiid played 36. Welcome to Philadelphia, Nick Nurse!)

Both Giannis and Embiid had perfectly cromulent efforts: not super efficient, both missed free throws, both turned the ball over a lot … but both still did very good MVP-like things for their teams. The point guards were the stars here. Oh and Kelly Oubre Jr. looked like a star for the Sixers, too: 27 points in 32 minutes on, uh, 104% effective field goal percentage (4/5 on twos, 5/6 on threes).

The lesson here is that despite the James Harden drama (more on that in Links) the Sixers are not sliding quietly into the night, and the Bucks look every bit as awesome as we’d anticipated they’d be. The East is top-heavy, but watching the internal evolutions unfold is must-see T.V. this regular season.

Scores

Sixers 117, Bucks 118 | Full game highlights

Suns 95, Lakers 100 | Full game highlights
In Game 2, the Suns were missing not just Bradley Beal — who sat out the opener with back pain — but also Devin Booker, who has a foot injury that could keep him out multiple games. This was the preeminent worry for the Suns going into the season: they have an elite trio of stars, but availability has been an issue for each of them in recent years. Reliability metrics are off to a baaaad start.

And yet, the Suns almost beat the rival Lakers in Los Angeles because this dude wasn’t injured or sore or tired or anything.

No one else on the Suns had any offense going. Kevin Durant took 28 shots from the floor. Eric Gordon was next up with 16. Jordan Goodwin — who was picking up DNP-CDs with some frequency for the Washington Wizards last season — was next up with 15, and not because he was hot or anything. And the Suns were very much in the game with a minute to go, because of some high-effort defense, because of the Lakers’ own offensive struggles and because of KD.

The Lakers shot 5/29 from three, which helped the Suns build a lead. Anthony Davis played a pretty complete game: 30 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks. But down the stretch, Le Roi stepped in to complete the comeback and close the deal.

That last drive was nasty. He’s done it thousands of times in the NBA, and he’s still doing it, in Year 21. He played 35 minutes by the way, despite rumored minutes limits of 28 to 32 minutes. Darvin Ham did not bench him for one second of the fourth quarter. He couldn’t!

That the Lakers needed a big comeback and 35 LeBron minutes to put away a Suns team missing two of their three stars makes me feel better about the Suns than a loss to the Lakers should. But I am a little concerned about the potential for back and foot issues to linger, or for the load Durant is already taking on in freaking October.

GMIB Merch Is (Finally) Here

I asked a few months ago whether there was interest in Good Morning It’s Basketball merch and heard affirmatively there was. Now you can buy some limited items with ol’ Socrates spinning the ball on his finger at the official GMIB Merch Store.

Right now we have coffee mugs and t-shirts. Stickers coming soon. We will consider adding other items by popular demand.

Thanks as always for your support!

Schedule

Lots of action this weekend. All times are Eastern. National T.V. games in bold. League Pass Cup games have the 🏆.

FRIDAY
Pistons at Hornets, 7 🏆
Nuggets at Grizzlies, 7
Knicks at Hawks, 7:30
Heat at Celtics, 7:30, ESPN
Thunder at Cavaliers, 7:30
Raptors at Bulls, 8
Rockets at Spurs, 8
Nets at Mavericks, 8:30
Clippers at Jazz, 9:30
Magic at Blazers, 10 🏆
Warriors at Kings, 10, ESPN

SATURDAY
Bulls at Pistons, 7
Grizzlies at Wizards, 7
Knicks at Pelicans, 7, NBA TV
Pacers at Cavaliers, 7:30
Sixers at Raptors, 7:30
Heat at Timberwolves, 8
Jazz at Suns, 10, NBA TV

SUNDAY
Nuggets at Thunder, 3:30
Warriors at Rockets, 7
Hawks at Bucks, 7
Blazers at Sixers, 7:30
Spurs at Clippers, 9, NBA TV
Lakers at Kings, 9

Links

Here’s the genius first act of Secret Base’s How to Make a Basketball: Shaq vs. Kobe.

Under the guise of a theme called “Back to Basketball,” the NBA is returning to East vs. West in the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis, killing the All-Star Draft, which was by far the best thing about All-Star Weekend last year. The NBA is also abandoning the Elam ending. BOO! The target score stuff has only translated a little, and the whole “winning the quarter” nonsense does not work as a viewing experience. But I don’t get how East vs. West will create any more stakes or buy-in than the draft? I mean … are we just biding time before USA vs. the World? We had eight international-born All-Stars last year.

Victor Wembanyama’s debut on Wednesday was the most-watched non-Christmas Spurs or Mavericks regular season game ever on ESPN. It’s really cool to see the slightly older Spurs embracing Wemby Mania. It can go either way: the established players on the Cavaliers in 2003-04, for example, bristled at LeBron’s rookie hype until it became clear he was basically a superstar from the jump. Everyone seems to be cool with the attention on Big Vic in San Antonio. You know the sales department is pleased!

Marc Stein reports live from Wemby Mania. Jared Dubin breaks down the film of Big Vic’s debut.

Give a gift subscription

Another uncomfortable twist in the James Harden saga: The Beard returned to Philadelphia on Wednesday to practice with the team before the Sixers traveled to Milwaukee for Thursday’s opener. There’s a dispute on whether the Sixers clearly communicated that Harden was not welcome to travel with the team and would not be playing due to his mysterious 10-day absence to end training camp. In any case, as Chris Haynes explains below and on Bleacher Report, Harden showed up to the private airport where a security turned him away and then Nick Nurse and Elton Brand told him he needed to stay in Philadelphia and get into game shape.

And now the NBA is investigating this as a potential violation of the Player Participation Policy, since Harden isn’t injured and wasn’t at the arena. The team could be fined $100,000. Incredibly bizarre situation. I think the Sixers are absolutely right to keep Harden out given that he hasn’t been with the team in the run-up to the regular season. He showed up to camp late and left early. He might have a solid reason for the latter, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of communication. What does he think should happen here, other than a trade? That said, the Sixers front office has let this linger. Maybe Daryl Morey doesn’t mind being uncomfortable, but he’s putting that burden on the team by letting this stretch out. Kevin Garnett has a point.

Meanwhile, Adrian Wojnarowski reported on NBA Countdown on Wednesday that the Clippers have paused their pursuit of Harden. Here’s Jesse Washington at Andscape on Harden abusing the notion of player empowerment.

Tom Haberstroh on the Booker and Harden absences for early national T.V. games stress testing the league’s Player Participation Policy.

Mike D. Sykes, II on the beauty in Adidas’ ad for Anthony Edwards’ first signature shoe, the AE 1, which features some trash talk aimed at other NBA stars’ signature shoes.

De’Aaron Fox is the first Curry Brand athlete.

Contract extension for Rick Carlisle.

Kelly Dwyer previews the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Northwest.

And finally: Kevin Harlan’s in-game love letter to blimps and blimp culture. As my daughter’s third-grade teacher often said: “Do you, boo.”

Week 1 in the books. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support. We are back to our regularly scheduled programming next week: five weekday issues for paid subscribers, one of those unlocked for everyone. See you then. Be excellent to each other.