Minnesota Timberwolves 131, Miami Heat 106

The first quarter was the game everybody expected, two new star pairings trading the lead. Giannis Antetokounmpo opened with a pull-up at 11:47, Anthony Edwards answered from 26 feet at 10:24, and Klay Thompson's second three tied it at 17 with 7:55 left. Minnesota took a 34-32 lead into the second after Giannis scored with 25.4 seconds on the clock. Miami's last lead came on a Bobby Portis three at 5:25 of the second for 50-47, and Terrence Shannon Jr. answered 39 seconds later. From there the Wolves ran: Edwards' dunk at 1:10 made it 65-56 and LaMelo Ball's free throws with two seconds left sent it to the half at 69-59.

Edwards' three at 9:47 of the third stretched it to 78-61, Bam Adebayo got Miami back within 11 at 8:13, and that was as close as the Heat came. Jonathan Kuminga's layup at 1:55 made it 96-79, Rudy Gobert's free throws with 52.1 left set the score at 99-81 through three, and Kuminga's three at 10:50 of the fourth pushed it past 20. The lead topped out at 30 on Jaden McDaniels' layup with 4:29 left, 123-93, and the rest was garbage time.

Edwards finished with 45 on 16-of-29, nine of them threes, with 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. Ball had 21 in his Minnesota debut on five threes with six assists, McDaniels went 8-of-11 for 17, Ayo Dosunmu gave the bench 16, and Gobert pulled 15 rebounds. The Wolves made 21 threes on 50 attempts, owned the glass 52-34 with 17 offensive boards, and turned Miami over 18 times. Giannis had 35 on 13-of-19 in 30 minutes and nobody else in a Heat jersey got past 15: Adebayo had 15 and seven, Davion Mitchell handed out 11 assists, and Thompson's 10 came on three threes before the game got away. Miami shot 8-of-33 from deep. Minnesota is 1-0; Miami is 0-1.

MIN 131 · MIA 106

Dallas Mavericks 110, Houston Rockets 128

For a quarter it was a game. P.J. Washington opened with a three, the lead changed hands eight times, and Naji Marshall's three at 1:29 of the first put Dallas up 26-24. Kevin Durant tied it from the line at 1:14 and gave Houston the lead for good with another free throw at 52.4, and two late dunks sent the Rockets to the second up 32-26. Then the second quarter happened. Jabari Smith Jr.'s layup at 11:36 made it 34-26, his three at 7:04 made it 48-34, Alperen Sengun's hook at 5:23 made it 56-36, and Amen Thompson's dunk at 3:42 made it 63-36. Houston outscored Dallas 38-12 in the period and led 70-38 at the half.

Thompson's three at 11:18 of the third made it 73-40, and the lead topped out at 37 on an 86-49 score with 6:28 left in the quarter. Dallas took the third 38-30 on Kyrie Irving's shot-making, and Irving's layup at the horn made it 100-76, but the hole was too deep. Marcus Sasser's floater at 9:06 of the fourth got the Mavericks within 18 at 103-85, and that was the closest they got. Marshall's turnaround with 42.3 left set the final.

Durant and Smith each scored 30, Durant on 10-of-16 in his 19th opener and Smith on 11-of-17 with four threes. Sengun had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Thompson went for 16 and 10, and Fred VanVleet scored six but handed out 11 assists in his first game back from the ACL. Houston scored 29 in transition and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds with Steven Adams out. Cooper Flagg had 32 on 10-of-17 and 11-of-13 at the line, Sasser gave the bench 17 on four threes, Marshall had 16, and Irving scored 15 in 24 minutes in his first game since the knee. Dallas turned it over 21 times. Houston is 1-0; Dallas is 0-1.

DAL 110 · HOU 128

Golden State Warriors 105, Los Angeles Lakers 127

Stephen Curry had 16 in the first quarter and the Warriors led 27-26 with 2:50 left in it, and the Lakers still took a 34-33 edge into the second. That was the last time it was close. Los Angeles shot 24-of-38 in the first half, held a Golden State team missing Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski to 19 second-quarter points, and Luka Doncic banked in a half-court heave at the halftime horn for a 66-52 lead. Warriors not named Curry were 13-of-35 from the floor at the break.

The third quarter ended it. The Lakers outscored Golden State 36-16, with the transition game and Walker Kessler's rim-running doing the damage, and Doncic's three-point barrage pushed the lead past 30. It was 102-70 with 11:27 left in the game when Curry, who had missed his last five attempts, sat for good after 21 minutes, and the Lakers' starters followed soon after. Golden State won a meaningless fourth 37-25.

Doncic finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 7-of-18 shooting, 5-of-12 from three and 9-of-9 at the line, against six turnovers. Kessler went 12-for-12 from the floor for 26 points in his Lakers debut, most of it on lobs from Doncic. Curry had 23 on 7-of-15 with 2-of-7 from three and 7-of-7 at the line, and nobody else in a Warriors uniform reached 15. Golden State shot 38-of-92 and 8-of-36 from deep and was outscored 70-41 over the middle two quarters. Los Angeles is 1-0; Golden State is 0-1.

GSW 105 · LAL 127

Hawks 132, Magic 125: Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 31 with five threes, including two in the final 1:27 that broke a 122-121 game, after Orlando had erased a 14-point deficit and traded leads with Atlanta through the fourth. Paolo Banchero had 35 on 10-of-12 with 10 assists and six of the Magic's 20 turnovers.

Wizards 128, Bucks 116: Anthony Davis had 34 and 12 and Washington closed with a 14-0 run early in the fourth, outscoring Milwaukee 38-23 in the period of the Bucks' first game since the Giannis trade. Tyler Herro led Milwaukee with 24 and nine assists.

Hornets 110, Nets 103: Grayson Allen scored 21 on five threes off the bench and Naz Reid had 20, 11 and seven in his Charlotte debut, with the Hornets playing without LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel and Coby White. Julius Randle's 33 carried a Brooklyn team that turned it over 22 times.

Raptors 135, Bulls 92: Kawhi Leonard had 23 in 24 minutes in his first Toronto game since 2019, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley matched him at 23 apiece, and the Raptors led 43-23 after one quarter. Chicago went 4-of-36 from three and turned it over 27 times.

Grizzlies 123, Jazz 103: Ty Jerome went 17-of-25 for 45 points with five threes, seven rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes, and Memphis won the glass 55-38. Keyonte George led Utah with 22; Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 against his former team.

Pacers 123, Pelicans 120: Pascal Siakam scored 30 and Tyrese Haliburton had 23 and 12 assists in his first game since the 2025 Finals, and New Orleans missed three looks to tie in the final 9.4 seconds. The Pelicans went 34-of-37 from the line and still came up short.

Trail Blazers 124, Suns 83: Portland scored the first 21 points, led 43-12 after one quarter and by as many as 52, with Damian Lillard scoring 25 on six threes in his first regular-season game back and Ja Morant adding 14 and eight assists. Phoenix shot 36% and went 6-of-31 from three; Devin Booker had 23.

Clippers 121, Kings 96: Darius Garland scored 30 and the Clippers led wire to wire in their first opener without Kawhi Leonard since 2019, playing without Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal and Max Strus. Sacramento trailed 41-29 after one and never got back in it.

Wednesday was a night of returns. Kyrie Irving (Dallas), Fred VanVleet (Houston) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana) all played their first regular-season games since long absences, and Deni Avdija started for Portland after being listed questionable with an ankle. The absences were the ones the preview carried: Donte DiVincenzo for Minnesota; Dereck Lively II, Santi Aldama and Caleb Martin for Dallas; Steven Adams (right calf) for Houston; Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski for Golden State, with Kristaps Porzingis not with the team; Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero for the Lakers; Anthony Black and Jonathan Isaac for Orlando; AJ Dybantsa for Washington; LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams for Charlotte; Jusuf Nurkic and Tony Bradley for Utah; T.J. McConnell and Aaron Nesmith for Indiana; Shaedon Sharpe for Portland; and Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal and Max Strus for the Clippers. No in-game injuries were reported in the box scores and recaps we reviewed.

Thursday is a two-game night: Cleveland at Philadelphia at 7:00 PM ET, then Denver at Oklahoma City at 9:30. The preview is up now. We'll have the preview, the card, and both leans before tip-off.