3 takeaways from OKC's Big Three debut
It may have been against the lowly New York Knicks, but the reloaded Oklahoma City Thunder looked tremendous in their season opener.
Offseason star imports Paul George and Carmelo Anthony found plenty of shots and looked entirely comfortable with their new team, while reigning MVP Russell Westbrook picked up right where he left off by recording the first triple-double of the season.
Here's how each OKC star looked in their effortless 105-84 win over the Knicks.
Olympic Melo
Melo is going to feast off open shots all season with a top-notch point guard like Westbrook by his side.
After shaking off a slow start, Anthony picked apart his former club by simply catching and shooting while Westbrook collapsed the defense. He would either pick-and-pop, or serve as the trailer in transition. These were some of the easiest points of Anthony's career as he capitalized off Westbrook's vision.
He finished with 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting along with two steals and two blocks.
Naturally, there were a handful of possessions where Anthony gave into temptation and worked in isolation, but his overall efficiency should be much improved by all of the easy opportunities afforded to him by having an elite playmaker next to him. Anthony hasn't had that since he shared the court with Chauncey Billups almost a decade ago.
George as a two-way terror
George had an even better debut than Anthony.
There was no hesitation whatsoever from George on offense as he launched a team-high 23 shots. The mid-range pullup wasn't dropping, but George was mostly money when coming around screens. He made six threes on 13 attempts which buoyed an otherwise iffy shooting performance.
The more encouraging sign for the Thunder was George's defensive versatility. OKC was able to switch freely around screens when George shared the court with fellow lanky forwards Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant. George even found himself guarding 7-foot-3 center Kristaps Porzingis for extended stretches.
George finished with 28 points and six rebounds in 39 minutes before checking out to a standing ovation from his new fans.
Same old Westbrook
Westbrook finally has some help after carrying the entire franchise on his back last season, and the results were tremendous.
There was no more need for Westbrook to force shots. He took just 12 - most of which came in transition - while dishing out 16 assists in 33 minutes. He found more room to attack coming off the high screen, before collapsing the paint and finding George and Anthony for open looks on kickouts.
Another positive for Thunder fans: Westbrook showed no ill effects from that knee injury that sidelined him for a few games in preseason. He was as explosive as ever as he skied for rebounds and furiously pushed the pace in transition.
Westbrook finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists.