5 positive takeaways from the NBA's opening weekend

Notes on the Lakers, the Clippers and some other teams and players outside of Los Angeles.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Evening Glow; Worthington Whittredge; 1800s

The NBA played 25 games between Friday and Sunday of its opening weekend. Instead of trying to provide notes on each one, let’s try to make some sense of it all in a more organized fashion. Here are five big, positive takeaways from all that action (and what came before it, of course. We exist in the context.).

1. The Lakers look incredible

We have four undefeated teams remaining, but not all 3-0 records are created equal. The Lakers have beaten the Timberwolves, the Suns and the Kings — three top-10 teams in the West, two of which could be top-4 this season. L.A. began the season with a tough schedule, and has totally aced the test. J.J. Redick is getting rave reviews by both the Basketball Internet Intelligentsia and the players. The team seems fully committed to getting the absolute most out of Anthony Davis, who has put up 35, 36 and 31 in three games.

And LeBron James is still doing nonsense like this every time he sees DeMar DeRozan in the building.

That would be a 21-0 run for the Lakers to start the fourth quarter on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, with LeBron scoring 16 of them. And yes, it was just as painful watching it a second time.

On Friday, the Suns led the Lakers by 22 in the first half, but AD and the Lakers just walked them down and took full control by the fourth quarter.

The Lakers have two more tough ones — a rematch against the Suns and a visit to undefeated Cleveland — before the schedule eases up a bit. But it’s hard to imagine the season starting better for this team.

2. Chet Holmgren has leveled up

That the Thunder are also one of the four undefeated teams is not a surprise: OKC was wildly considered the West favorite after addressing two key issues in the offseason, and though Isaiah Hartenstein is out, the Thunder were the No. 1 seed last season anyway.

The way in which the Thunder have gotten to 3-0, though, is interesting: Chet Holmgren suddenly looks like one of the five best big men in the NBA. Here are his box score lines from each of OKC’s first three games: