The Good, Bad and the Ugly: Opening Night 2010

LeBron rates the Heat's performance last night

This is a feature I'll try to do every game day, highlighting some of the good, the not-so-good, and the downright ugly in the previous days NBA games.  Hopefully you guys enjoy it, and please leave feedback.

Miami Heat (0-1)

• The Good:  For Miami, the best thing I can say is that despite playing a pretty terrible game overall, because of the talent level on the team and the force of nature that is LeBron James, this game was still winnable in the final few minutes until Boston stepped up.  LeBron had a good scoring game, but his overall game was iffy, just like the Heat's.  Perhaps the only player that played a good game for Miami was Udonis Haslem.
• The Bad:  There is almost too much to list.  Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined to shoot 7-27 for 21 points, the team itself had 15 assists to 17 turnovers, and the chemistry just wasn't there.
• The Ugly: The first half was utterly atrocious for Miami.  9 points in the 1st quarter and 30 total in the first half, on 26.8% shooting.  That's a worse quarter or half than the Miami team from last year, which if you'll remember, didn't feature Three of the best players in the league.

Boston Celtics (1-0)

• The Good:  Boston's team defense was great, as usual.  They spent most of the time focusing on LeBron, Wade and Bosh, trying to get the rest of the Heat to hurt them.  Despite a run from LeBron in the 3rd, the Celtics did a great job at handling the new big three.  Rondo was also excellent at distributing the ball, getting 17 assists, or two more than the entire Heat team.  Boston got good contributions from its own big three as well, and bench players Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels combined for the same amount of points as Wade/Bosh except on 10-12 from the field.
• The Bad: Free throws and Turnovers.  The Celtics only shot 64% from the line, and this can partly be blamed on Shaq not ever having given a damn about them and going 3-8.  The Celtics did a better job on turnovers in the 2nd half, but 18 is still far too many, with 7 by KG alone.
• The Ugly: Jermaine O'Neal and Nate Robinson were complete non-factors.  Robinson shot the ball 7 times in 10 minutes, despite only making two and missing both his 3PA.

Phoenix, Portland, Houston and Los Angeles after the jump.

Phoenix Suns (0-1)

• The Good:  The Suns shooting efficiency was amazing.  48.6% from the field, 47.4% from three.  Steve Nash and Jason Richardson led the way with 26 and 22 respectively, and because of them, Phoenix looked to be winning this one at the end of the 3rd.
• The Bad: The Suns defense was bad.  Not putting it in the Ugly is being nice.  They let Portland shoot 46.2% and 50% from long range, and gave up 18 offensive rebounds (that ended up being the total margin in rebounds between the teams).  Frye and Richardson led the team in rebounds with six.  The Suns also had trouble taking care of the ball, with an Assist:Turnover ration of 15:19.  Nash had nine TOVs to himself.
• The Ugly: The 4th quarter.  11 points to Portland's 31.  Just atrocious, especially after coming into the quarter having scored 35 in the 3rd and taken the lead.

Portland Trailblazers (1-0)

• The Good:  The Blazers took complete advantage of the boards, including taking an absolutely amazing 43.9% of the Offensive Rebound opportunities.  The Blazers also scored efficiently, led by Brandon Roy and Nic Batum.  One reason for the efficiency was the excellent ball movement, as Portland had 31 assists, to only 12 turnovers.  The Blazers bench also came to play, with Wes Matthews having a good night, as well as a surprisingly active Rudy Fernandez (7 points, 3 assists, 3 steals).  Speaking of steals, the Blazers had 10.
• The Bad & Ugly: Other than letting the Suns score extremely efficiently for the first three quarters, I can't think of anything for this category for Portland.  Good game for them.

Houston Rockets (0-1)

• The Good: The Rockets worked so hard in this game, and were one three away from making the defending champs 0-1.  They beat the Lakers on the boards (53 to 44), and also assists (25 to 20) and blocks (7 to 4).  The Rockets backcourt of Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks scored 50 points on 33 shots, and Yao Ming had a pretty successful return, with 9 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in only 24 minutes before he fouled out (he also had four turnovers but we'll get to that).  Luis Scola almost won this game for Houston with his hustle, but just couldn't make some quite easy shots.  Still 18pts, 16 boards and 4 assists. 
• The Bad:  Turnovers and perimeter defense were a big problem for Houston.  Twenty turnovers, some that came during critical moments, and also letting Shannon Brown and Steve Blake shoot 7-7 from three in the 2nd half.
• The Ugly:  The Rockets missed so many easy shots that could've ended up winning them the game, but they kept rimming out.  It was not fun to watch if you're a Rockets or just anti-Lakers fan.  If you're gonna beat the champs, you have to hit those shots.

Los Angeles Lakers (1-0)

• The Good:  Pau Gasol, Kobe and Lamar Odom looked ready for the season, with both Pau (29/11) and Lamar (14/10) dropping double-doubles, and Kobe getting to the line and distributing (27pts, 7 asts, 5 boards with 11-12 from FTs).  The Lakers also got a really good contribution from Shannon Brown (whose shooting stroke looks so much smoother) and newcomer Steve Blake.  Together those two combined for 7-9 from three.  Los Angeles also took care of the ball with only 12 turnovers.
• The Bad:  The Lakers had trouble keeping Houston off the offensive boards even though they did a good job themselves on the offensive boards.  The defense needs to step up a notch (like it did late in the fourth) so that scrappy teams like Houston don't continue to hang in there.  This game was closer than it perhaps should've been.
• The Ugly:  Ron Artest and Derek Fisher.  10 points on 4 of 22 shooting.  Just atrocious.  They were a big reason Houston led by 11 going into halftime.