John Wall back on floor; Pistons’ starters struggle to find offense
John Wall was back on the floor for the first time in nearly two years. DeMarcus Cousins played for the first time since the 2019 NBA Finals.
And the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were home, with nobody there to watch.
The NBA preseason — a truncated 49-game, nineday sprint — opened Friday with a five-game slate, action returning to NBA arenas for the first time in exactly nine months.
Coaches debuted with their new teams: Stephen Silas with Houston, Tom Thibodeau with New York, Billy Donovan with Chicago and Tyronn Lue with the Los Angeles Clippers. Rookies, such as No. 4 pick Patrick
Williams of the Bulls and No. 8 pick Obi Toppin of the Knicks, got their first NBA minutes.
As will be the case in most buildings, at least to start the season, almost nobody was at any of these games.
With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing and case numbers still rising, the era that started for the NBA with the suspension of last season on March 11 — the night that Utah’s Rudy Gobert tested positive — resumed with the league and its teams erring on the sides of caution and safety.
“It’s different, for sure,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before his team faced the Clippers inside a very empty Staples Center.
Well, some things were different.
Coaches wore masks. Detroit showed old videos of actual fan interactions — with the disclaimer that they were taped previously — during some timeouts. Bench seating areas were all spaced out, nobody next to one another.
Other things — like Wall’s explosion to the basket — were just like normal.
Wall’s first basket since December 2018 came on the first possession of Houston’s preseason, when he got to the rim for an easy score in his Rockets debut, one that came after his recovery from heel and Achilles injuries.
Reigning NBA scoring champion James Harden wasn’t playing for the Rockets, still not cleared to be back on the floor with the team that he hasn’t practiced with yet and apparently no longer wants to be with.
Knicks 90, Pistons 84
At Detroit, R. J. Barrett scored 15 points and Toppin finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in his debut as the Knicks won their preseason opener.
Julius Randle scored 11, while Elfrid Payton and Nerlens Noel each scored 10 for New York.
Svi Mykhailiuk and Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 14 points apiece.
None of Detroit’s five starters — all playing between 15 and 22 minutes — reached double figures, and they shot a combined 8 for 34.
The Pistons host the Knicks again at 7 p.m. today.