The Los Angeles Lakers around basketball superstar LeBron James celebrated their first win of the season in the North American professional league NBA. After the defeat in the opening game at champions Denver Nuggets, the Lakers prevailed at home against the Phoenix Suns with 100:95.
Anthony Davis stood out for the hosts with 30 points and 13 rebounds, James had 21 points. Even a strong Kevin Durant (39 points, 11 rebounds) couldn’t prevent the guests from Arizona from losing.
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers played a direct duel at the start of the season. In a close game, the Bucks led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo won 118:117 in front of their home crowd.
New signing Damian Lillard stole the show from his Greek teammate. With 39 points, the 33-year-old was not only by far his team’s best thrower, the seven-time All-Star also set a Bucks record for the most points by a debutant. In NBA history, it was the fourth-highest value for a rookie in his first appearance for his team.
Milwaukee’s star Harden causes trouble
Meanwhile, the NBA opened an investigation into Philadelphia because top star James Harden wasn’t there in Milwaukee. The 76ers waived Harden because he had not been with the team for ten days and was insisting on a change. The franchise justified his absence with Harden’s physical condition.
According to the rules, teams are only allowed to leave their star players out of games broadcast on national TV because of injuries, personal reasons and “rare and exceptional circumstances.”
