Now that every NBA team has a game under its belt, we can safely say that the 2018-19 season is underway. On Thursday night we got to see LeBron James in his Los Angeles Lakers debut, and on Friday we were treated to a marquee matchup of two of the Eastern Confernce’s top contenders — the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors — followed by perhaps the best game of the young season between the Warriors and Jazz.
Here are the scores, news and highlights from Friday’s NBA games.
NBA scores for Friday, Oct. 19
All times Eastern
Jerebko revenge game
Of all the players on the Warriors to hit the game-winner, it was none other than Jonas Jerebko. Against his former team, Jerebko rebounded Kevin Durant’s miss to give the Warriors a one-point win in the best game of the young season so far.
There were 33 lead changes in the game, with the Warriors led by Durant’s 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Steph Curry added 31 points and eight assists.
Joe Ingles did the heavy lifting for the Jazz with 27 points on 7-of-11 3-point shooting.
Jazz set franchise record for 3-pointers
To say the Utah Jazz were hot in the first half would be a wild understatement. Utah made 10 3-pointers in the second quarter alone en route to 47 points, giving them 81 points — that’s right, 81 — for the half.
They cooled off a bit in the second half, but just a bit. They ended up making a franchise-record 19 3-pointers in the tight loss to the Warriors.
Kawhi gets MVP chants
Oh man, the Raptors are going to be fun. In a marquee Eastern Conference matchup, the Raptors defeated the Celtics thanks to a brilliant performance from Kawhi Leonard, particularly in the second half. He finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds, and even drew MVP chants from the Toronto crowd. If Leonard keeps playing like this, the Raptors are going to be a force.
Butler booed in home debut
Oh, Jimmy. As expected, Butler was introduced to a chorus of boos in his home debut for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Until his trade request is honored, he better get used to this.
It didn’t seem to bother him, though, as he put up 33 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks in a Wolves win.
Trae catches fire
It didn’t take long for rookie Trae Young to get hot from the outside. Young made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the first quarter alone on Friday.
He finished with 20 points and nine assists while making four of his nine 3-point attempts.
Sabonis climbs the ladder
Domantas Sabonis couldn’t care less about the defenders in front of him. He threw down this monstrous poster dunk against the Bucks.
We’ll have to wait for Russ
Russell Westbrook missed the Thunder’s season opener while recovering from offseason knee surgery, and rumors circulated that he might take the court on Friday night against the Clippers. Unfortunately he decided to hold off on playing, buy according to ESPN’s Royce Young, there is a chance he’ll play on Sunday.
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