Paul George said he turned his "aggression up" after becoming frustrated with a lack of fouls being called, leading to him scoring 40 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
George also recorded six rebounds and six assists, with the Clippers edging a tight contest 111-109 at Golden 1 Center.
The recently returned Kawhi Leonard was rested by coach Ty Lue, putting more emphasis on George to step up.
The 32-year-old only managed four points in the first quarter, but after feeling he was being fouled and was then called for a technical foul for his complaints, George used the lit fire to punish the Kings on the scoreboard, scoring a further 36 in the final three quarters.
"I knew I had to be aggressive from the jump already," George said after the win. "If anything, it [was] just after being angry about that. It definitely turned my aggression up.
"The [Kings] players were holding on to me. I was trying to make my case that, 'what do you want me to do? Their hands are on me', and I was trying to get their hands off me."
George shot 16 from 31 field-goal attempts, and three from 10 from beyond the arc.
Lue explained after the game that his player does not need to feel like he is number two behind Leonard for the Clippers, and George embraced whatever his role needs to be.
"For me, I just pride myself on being that guy that enjoys doing everything," George said. "I enjoy being that glue guy, and whatever the team or whatever that game needs of me, I'm going to do.
"I just didn't want nothing going into this year where people are saying this and saying that. If I'm the two, I'm fine being the two.
"But I know what I'm capable of. I know I'm able to be a number one option on nights and a number one option on possessions. I'm very aware and very confident in my ability... I'm going to go out and do my job regardless."
Joel Embiid says he must "play better" despite an excellent solo performance in the Philadelphia 76ers' 114-105 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at home on Saturday.
The 28-year-old posted 40 points and 13 rebounds in a superb individual performance but his efforts were in vain as the Sixers slipped to a third successive loss to start the campaign.
With a talented squad expected pre-season to be among the league's strongest this term, a 0-3 return so far has been a shock to the system for the 76ers.
Embiid, who has been struggling with a foot issue following a plantar fasciitis injury sustained before the team's lead-in training camp, says he is still heading back to full fitness, but stresses he can do more in spite of that.
"Obviously, I'm not playing at my best," he stated. "We're not winning. Tonight was a start, but we got to find ways to win, so I need to play better.
"I'm still trying to work my way back. Coming into training camp, I hadn't done anything in like two months.
"So, it really slowed me down, but [I'm] still trying to work my way back. Hopefully, everything goes back to normal."
The Sixers will hope to dodge an 0-4 record when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to face them on Monday.
Joel Embiid scored 40 points but it was not enough to prevent the Philadelphia 76ers from slumping to a 0-3 start to the new NBA season after a 114-105 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
James Harden had minimal impact in the second half as Spurs small forward Doug McDermott took control with an eight-point burst, capping his 14 points, which all came in the second half.
The 76ers, who had been beaten by contenders, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, to open their season, squandered Embiid's huge game where he shot 14-of-25 from the field and hauled down 13 rebounds with two blocks.
Harden only added 12 points on four-of-18 shooting, making one-of-six three-point attempts. The former MVP provided 12 assists with nine rebounds and two blocks, but was inconspicuous in the second half with the game up for grabs, with the Spurs defense denying him good looks.
Tyrese Maxey contributed 25 points for the 76ers, including three triples, but Philadelphia slumped to their first 0-3 start since 2016-17.
Devin Vassell (22 points with nine-of-14 field shooting, including four three-pointers) and Keldon Johnson (21 points with eight rebounds) were San Antonio's most productive offensive players.
Mitchell betters LeBron start for Cavs
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points as he claimed his first win as a Cleveland Cavaliers player in their 128-96 victory over the Chicago Bulls in their home season opener.
Mitchell achieved a feat that not even LeBron James could, becoming the first Cavs player with back-to-back 30-point games to open a season.
The All-Star, who made a high-profile trade from the Utah Jazz to the Cavs in the off-season, landed four-of-six from beyond the arc with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Zach LaVine returned after off-season knee surgery that forced him to miss Chicago's opening two games to top score for the Bulls with 23 points.
Giannis powers Bucks past Rockets
Giannis Antetokounmpo only needed 28 minutes to put on an MVP-like display as the Milwaukee Bucks routed the Houston Rockets 125-105 in their home opener at Fiserv Forum.
Antetokounmpo scored 44 points, shooting 17-of-21 from the field with two three-pointers, along with 12 rebounds and three assists.
The Greek forward became Milwaukee's all-time free throws leader, shooting eight-of-13 from the stripe to exceed Sidney Moncrief's 3,505 record, before sitting out with 8:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Jayson Tatum also scored 40 points to lead the 3-0 Boston Celtics past the 0-3 Orlando Magic 126-120, while Paul George had 40 in the Los Angeles Clippers' 111-109 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Ben Simmons is "starting to show the player he can be", according to his coach Steve Nash after the Australian played a role in the Brooklyn Nets' win against the Toronto Raptors.
Simmons played over 32 minutes at Barclays Center on Friday, scoring six points and recording 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Kevin Durant (30 points) and Kyrie Irving (27) led the scoring for the Nets in a 109-105 victory, edging out Toronto despite an impressive triple-double from Pascal Siakam (37 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists).
Simmons played his first game in 16 months on Wednesday in defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans and struggled to make an impact, fouling out during his 23-minute appearance.
He was much-improved in Friday's win, though, and Nash expressed his pride for the 26-year-old, saying post-game: "From the jump he was more aggressive - he got in the paint, every time he gets in the paint he causes problems.
"He's starting to show the player he can be, and I still think he's got a ways to go, so really proud of him. He shook off the first night, and I thought he was much more aggressive in an important game for us."
The player himself revealed Nash has been telling him to "Just attack, just be me," adding: "It's easy to say, but to go and do it, it's tough. But that's on me. Keep pushing myself."
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr feels nobody has figured out the correct answer for how to defend reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic after the Denver Nuggets left Chase Center with a 128-123 upset win on Friday night.
With the Nuggets' second-best player Jamal Murray sitting out the game as part of his recovery plan from a long-term injury, Denver's fate was left in the hands of Jokic, and he delivered once again.
Jokic posted a triple-double in the win, finishing with 26 points (seven-of-13 shooting), 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his 34 minutes.
The Nuggets led by 10 points with just 74 seconds remaining, but a Warriors flurry saw them cut the lead to 124-123 after a steal in the backcourt gave Jordan Poole an easy layup with 14 seconds on the clock.
But Jokic steadied the ship, immediately heaving a full-court pass to Bruce Brown for an uncontested dunk to avoid having to sweat through a pair of free throws, before the big Serbian went to the line to close the game out himself, hitting both foul shots to finish 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
When asked after the game if the seven-foot maestro is the Warriors' kryptonite, Kerr said he does not know how anyone would slow him down.
"He’s everybody’s kryptonite,” he said. "He’s a two-time MVP for a reason. The guy is a phenomenal player, and he just makes the game so much easier on his teammates.
"They've done a really good job in Denver the past few years, building their roster, building their identity. But yeah, Jokic is Jokic. I don't know if any other team gives him a hard time."
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone echoed the sentiment, saying at this point the only advice he can give the 27-year-old is about being a vocal leader.
"My biggest challenge for Nikola is always finding a way to use his voice and be a leader," he said.
"This is his team. He’s a great player, and what makes him great is he makes every one of those guys better.
"That chemistry is only going to continue to get better and better as the season goes along – but tonight was a great example of what it has potential to be."
A stunning 49-point outburst from Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant carried his side back from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat the Houston Rockets 129-122 on Friday.
Morant had 18 points and six assists in the first half, but the rest of the Grizzlies were struggling, falling into a 42-26 hole early in the second quarter before trimming the margin to 70-62 at halftime.
The second pick from the 2021 NBA Draft, Jalen Green, showed why Rockets fans are so excited as he piled up 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting while going four-of-five from long range, but Morant was matching him step-for-step before running away late.
Memphis won the fourth quarter 34-22 as the Rockets ran out of gas, with Morant finishing 17-of-26 from the field, and five-of-six from long range, while adding eight assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He had 31 in the second half, and only a missed free throw in the fourth quarter kept him from scoring 50.
In an eye-catching performance, second-year center Alperen Sengun tallied 23 points (nine-of-13 shooting) with 12 rebounds in 27 minutes off the Houston bench.
Beal wins it for the Wizards
The Washington Wizards are now 2-0 after a Bradley Beal game-winner with seven seconds remaining handed his side a 102-100 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Chicago trailed by nine points with less than five minutes to play, but from that point on DeMar DeRozan dropped 11 of his 32 points (11-of-23 shooting), tying things up at 98-98 with a minute remaining after a pair of free throws.
Beal answered back with a layup, and DeRozan leveled the score again with a dunk, before Beal sank the dagger to finish with 19 points (nine-of-14 shooting) and eight assists. DeRozan had a chance to win it with a three-pointer on the buzzer, but could not deliver.
Brown and Tatum carry the Celtics
The combination of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum proved too much for the Miami Heat to overcome, with the duo combining for 57 points in the Boston Celtics' 111-104 triumph.
Tatum finished with 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting, getting to the line and hitting all seven of his free throws, while Brown was more efficient from the field, hitting 12-of-18 shots for 28 points after they scored 35 each in Boston's season opener.
The Heat could not survive in the minutes center Bam Adebayo had to sit down, as the big man posted 19 points (eight-of-11 shooting) with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a plus/minus of plus 20 in his 35 minutes. Unfortunately for Miami, they were minus 26 in the 12 minutes he was on the bench.
Simmons banks first win as a Net
The Brooklyn Nets won their first game with Ben Simmons as they defeated the Toronto Raptors 109-105 at home.
Simmons was solid without contributing much on the scoreboard, finishing with six points (three-of-five shooting), but he grabbed 10 rebounds, dished eight assists and blocked two shots.
Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant carried the scoring load, as Irving top-scored, producing 30 points on 11-of-24 shooting while adding seven assists, while Durant hit eight-of-18 shots for 27 points and six assists.
LeBron James was encouraged by the Los Angeles Lakers' ability to limit the Los Angeles Clippers scoring on Thursday, despite ultimately losing the game.
The Clippers ran out 103-97 victors at Crypto.com Arena in Kawhi Leonard's first outing in 16 months.
It was another frustrating game for the Lakers as they failed to land enough of their shots, especially from three-point range, which was also an issue in their season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Having only hit 10 from 40 from beyond the arc on Tuesday, the Lakers were successful with just nine from 45 attempts against the Clippers, who scored as many from 16 fewer shots.
Speaking after the defeat, LeBron was in no mood to focus on the negatives, instead praising his team-mates for putting pressure on the visitors at the other end of the court, limiting them to just 80 shots in the contest.
"I'm definitely not going to sit here and harp on [about] what we can't do every single game," he said. "That's not a leader.
"What I know we can do? We can defend our ass off. We did that tonight, which gave us an opportunity to win and we just couldn't make it happen. But I'm OK with that."
On his team's inefficient shooting, James added: "If we're reliant on [that] every single game, then we're in trouble.
"So, I'm not worried about that or thinking about that. It's how hard we play, how aggressive we play, how determined we are to go out and compete every night.
"And we've got to defend. When we defend, we're going to give ourselves a good chance to win."
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