Starting 5, Oct. 22: Embracing Opening Night

The road to defending the title kicks off in Boston tonight.

THE LINEUP

Oct. 22, 2024 | What’s inside today’s edition?

The Defense Begins: Boston will celebrate its title before

beginning a new banner quest

L.A. Premiere: The Lakers host the Wolves as they play in

their sixth straight Opening Night

Raising 18: Before a new championship chase begins, get an

inside look at Boston’s title run

Dunk Score: Player tracking and NBA data science analyze

every dunk from every game

Power Rankings: How the teams stack up before the season tips

off tonight

BUT FIRST… ⏰

Opening Night is just hours away…

It’s been 127 days since the confetti fell to

the TD Garden floor as the Boston Celtics celebrated winning the

2024 NBA championship.

Tonight, the Celtics will raise banner 18, collect their

championship rings and begin their quest to repeat against the

Knicks to open the 2024-25 season (7:30 ET, TNT).

That’s followed by a Western Conference clash between the

Wolves and Lakers in L.A. (10 ET, TNT

).

1. ONE LAST CELEBRATION BEFORE THE PURSUIT OF 19

For years, 17 championship banners hung in the rafters of TD

Garden, but 18 hung in the Celtics’ practice facility.

The 18th one was blank, providing a daily reminder of the

standard by which the franchise measures success. A reminder of

what the practice sessions, workouts and film studies were all

about – being the team to fill in banner 18.

After years of disappointment – including four losses in the

East Finals and one in the 2022 Finals in the span of eight

seasons – the 2023-24 Celtics were able to finish the job.

Tonight, before they try to become the first team to

successfully defend the title since the Golden State Warriors

(2017, 2018), they will commemorate their 2023-24 title by

raising banner 18 to the rafters and collecting their

championship rings.

Once the ceremony is complete, it will be time to get back to

business, as the Celtics host the Knicks in the opening game of

the 2024-25 NBA season (7:30 ET, TNT).

Two summers ago, a roster shake up was needed to take the

Celtics to championship heights with the additions of Jrue

Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis ahead of the 2023-24 season

This summer was a different story, as the Celtics retained

their entire core

from the championship team, looking to run it back with visions

of banner 19 in their eyes

However, they will be without Porzingis to open the season as

he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a rare leg injury

Meanwhile, the Knicks are coming off back-to-back Playoff

exits in the East Semifinals and – similar to the Celtics two

summers ago – used this offseason to revamp its roster with two

significant additions.

Early in free agency, the Knicks struck a deal with the Nets

to send Mikal Bridges over the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan,

reuniting the former Villanova Wildcat with some of his college

teammates

Then just before training camp (in similar timing to when the

Celtics added Holiday), the Knicks acquired four-time All-Star

Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota

The moves were bold and the Knicks are banking on them paying

off

as they look to build on last year’s No. 2 seed finish in the

East (14 games behind Boston) and a deeper Playoff run. They

couldn’t ask for a better first test than the defending champs to

open the season.

2. WOLVES, LAKERS OPEN SEASON WITH HIGH HOPES

Last season, both Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves made

enormous leaps – bounding over opponents both on the court (see

Section 4 ⬇️) and in the standings.

Edwards went from All-Star to All-NBA Second Team in 2023-24,

combining elite play with an electricity and flair that few can

match

Minnesota went from 42 to 56 wins – their 14-win improvement

the third-largest in the league – and reached the West Finals to

match the deepest Playoff run in franchise history

As the Wolves open the 2024-25 season tonight against the

Lakers (10 ET, TNT), they look to take their next leap

and challenge for the team’s first-ever NBA Finals berth. With

Karl-Anthony Towns traded to New York, all eyes will be on

Edwards to lead the way

For the first time in four years, the Los Angeles Lakers enter

a season with the second-most championships in NBA history – as

Boston’s 18th title broke the tie with L.A. after the Lakers had

evened the banner race at 17 apiece with their 2020 title.

Since then, the Lakers have had two first round exits (2021,

2024) and one Western Conference Finals appearance (2023), with

their last two postseasons beginning in the SoFi Play-In

Tournament

As he begins his 22nd NBA season – trying Vince Carter for the

most in NBA history – can LeBron James lead the Lakers on another

deep Playoff run

at the back end of his career?

In a career packed with historic achievements, LeBron and his

son Bronny (L.A.’s second-round pick) will become the first

father-son duo

to share the court in an NBA game this season. Will that moment

come during tonight’s opener?

3. RAISING 18: RELIVE BOSTON’S TITLE RUN AHEAD OF RING NIGHT

Every championship story is unique, told through

the lens of the players, coaches, organization and city they

represent.

For the 2023-24 Boston Celtics, the road to hoisting the Larry

O’Brien trophy was littered with past disappointments and a

determination to use those previous shortcomings as fuel to

championship glory.

In ‘Raising 18’ – a nine-part docuseries

chronicling Boston’s championship season – fans get a

behind-the-scenes look

at the ups and downs of the nine-month journey from training

camp to champagne.

Episode 1

: Championship or Bust – With the stakes of the new season

clear, go inside training camp with new addition Kristaps

Porzingis, who dropped 30 points in his Boston debut

: Sacrifice and Reward – Look back at the rise of the

cornerstone duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and how a

players only meeting in training camp set the tone that everyone

must sacrifice for the betterment of the team

: Clicking – The Celtics are hitting on all cylinders as

offseason additions Jrue Holiday and Porzingis fit in seamlessly,

including Brown introducing KP to Atlanta’s best wings on a road

trip

: Great Expectations – A throwback to Paul Pierce giving rookie

Tatum a lesson in Celtics history and the pressure that comes

with such a legendary past. And how some tough losses in the

regular season added to that pressure

: Mindset – In his second season at the helm, coach Joe

Mazzulla’s unique approach, intensity and connection with his

players helps the team keep its foot on the gas down the stretch

of the regular season

: Skip No Steps – The Playoffs open with a familiar nemesis –

the Miami Heat. Adversity hits as a bad Game 2 loss and the loss

of Porzingis in Game 3 tests Boston’s mettle and requires more

from ‘Raising 18’ narrator Al Horford

: Stay Ready – After Boston’s role players rise up to fill the

void left by KP against the Cavs, Jaylen Brown’s determination

and leadership are on full display in Boston’s sweep of Indiana

in the East Finals as Boston punches its ticket to the Finals

: The Return – Facing a Dallas team with two of the NBA’s best

closers, Boston was briefly back at full strength with the

triumphant return of Porzingis in a Game 1 win. In Game 2, it was

Derrick White who showcased his All-Defensive Team status with a

clutch chasedown block to put Boston up 2-0

: 18 Banners – A Game 3 win put Boston on the precipice of

history only to be followed by a blowout loss on the road. How

would the team handle adversity in the Finals? With Tatum and

Finals MVP Brown leading the way to the title – finally reaching

the goal they had set together years prior

4. INTRODUCING THE ‘DUNK SCORE’

A monster dunk can happen at any moment –

sending the crowd into a frenzy and becoming a viral sensation

racking up views, likes and shares across social media.

But those numbers don’t necessarily capture the greatness of

the slam.

What if there was a way to analyze every dunk in every NBA game

and find out which slam rises above the rest based on data rather

than just the eye test?

Introducing the ‘Dunk Score’

from the NBA Stats team.

The Anthony Edwards dunk above – which topped the NBA’s top

100 dunks

list from last season – also generated the highest dunk score of

the year at 124.4

Edwards posted three of the top six dunk scores from 2023-24

and gets his first chance to post a Dunk Score in 2024-25 tonight

when the Wolves visit the Lakers

Jalen Johnson dunk So, how does this work? How can every

in-game dunk be broken down to an unbiased, singular score in

real time?

It begins with player tracking data gathered from a computer

vision-based system built by Hawkeye inside every NBA arena. The

system computes a coordinate (x, y, z) for 29 body parts of every

player, as well as the game ball, 60 times per second.

The NBA Stats team combines that data with innovative data

science to analyze every dunk based on four subscores:

Jump is all about the athlete’s verticality & explosiveness

in the air

Power captures the raw force of the dunk

Style measures dunk flashiness, quantifying how much flair the

player adds to their dunk

Defensive Contest adds context by evaluating how much defensive

pressure the dunker faced

Add those subscores together to get the overall Dunk Score for

that specific slam. | Dive deeper

into the data science behind the Dunk Score

Keep in mind, the Dunk Score is impartial – it does not take

into consideration the status of the player performing the dunk,

whether it’s a preseason game or Game 7 of the Finals, how much

time is left or even the score of the game.

It just measures the dunk in its purest form based on the four

subscores.

Like advanced stats helped basketball fans gather a fuller

understanding of the game, the Dunk Score adds a scientific

data-based evaluation of every slam to bring a better

understanding to one of the most jaw-dropping plays in the game.

5. POWER RANKINGS ENTERING WEEK 1

On the eve of Opening Night, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann released

his initial Power Rankings

for the 2024-25 season.

The rankings will be updated every Monday throughout the season

and we’ll keep you updated on the biggest rises and falls in the

Starting 5.

Here’s a closer look at the top 10 ahead of the season’s

opening tip.

1. Celtics: The 2023-24 champs open the season with a target

on their back and the No. 1 spot in the rankings

2. Thunder: After becoming the youngest team to earn a No. 1

seed, OKC added a pair of veterans to help solidify its roster in

hopes of a championship run

3. Knicks: New York had a busy offseason in adding Mikal

Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns to a squad that earned the East’s

No. 2 seed a year ago

4. Timberwolves: After trading one former No. 1 pick in Towns,

the Wolves will look at another in Anthony Edwards to continue

his ascent in season five

5. Nuggets: The 2022-23 champs have lost a few pieces from that

title team, but with three-time MVP Nikola Jokić running the

show, they remain contenders 

6. Suns: The second season of the Kevin Durant-Devin

Booker-Bradley Beal trio begins with a new coach and a new point

guard

7. Mavericks: Fresh off a trip to the Finals, Luka Doncic,

Kyrie Irving and Co. added a sharpshooter with championship

experience in Klay Thompson

8. Sixers: A busy offseason saw Philly add nine-time All-Star

Paul George to its core of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, but a

preseason injury has PG’s Week 1 status unknown

9. Cavaliers: Cleveland resigned its core players in the

offseason with eyes on a deeper Playoff run after exits in the

first and second rounds, respectively, the past two years

10. Pacers: Indy ran its high-powered offense all the way to

the East Finals last spring. They were a surprise last season,

but now the league will see them coming

This top 10 could look very different not only week to week but

by the end of the season.

NBA.com’s Shaun Powell breaks down 10 clues that could make for

a truly unpredictable

2024-25 season.