Hong Kong 144 for 7 (Nizakat 48, McKechnie 40*, Ward 3-19, Stevens 2-26) beat Jersey 136 for 6 (Stevens 39, Bisson 30*, Ehsan 2-18, Shah 2-31) by eight runs

Jersey blew a great chance to keep pace with Oman and Canada at the top of Group B, letting Hong Kong recover from 81 for 6 to make 144, which wound up being just out of reach for them as Hong Kong kept their playoff hopes alive with an eight-run win at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday night. Nizakat Khan top-scored for Hong Kong with 48 opening the innings, after being dropped first ball, a moment that Jersey might be forced to rue by the end of the tournament.

Nizakat took on Harrison Carlyon's offspin first ball and skied a slog to long-on where Jonty Jenner spilled a regulation chance three yards inside the rope. Nizakat made sure Jenner didn't forget it, sweeping and cutting the next two balls for fours before lofting over Jenner's head for six more in a 17-run opening over. He was two short of a half-century in the tenth over when he fell trying to swat Ben Ward's legspin over midwicket and instead produced a leading edge to extra cover.

Ward then made further inroads two overs later with a double-wicket maiden to put Hong Kong under heavy pressure - Kinchit Shah slog swept to deep midwicket before Simandeep Singh was bowled by a googly to make it 81 for 6.

But Jersey let Hong Kong off the hook as Scott McKechnie and Waqas Barkat calmly added 61 across 8.2 overs to give Hong Kong a fighting chance. McKechnie stuck to orthodox strokes until the final few overs, when he started getting creative with his use of the crease to shuffle and scoop. The stand ended on the penultimate ball of the innings when Barkat scooped Ben Stevens' left-arm spin to short fine-leg. McKechnie took two off the final ball to finish unbeaten on 40 off 33 balls.

Shah struck a pair of early blows in the second over of the chase to peg Jersey back. Nick Ferraby fell to a reverse sweep that picked out short third-man before Carlyon yorked himself charging the vice-captain's offspin to make it 15 for 2 in two overs.

Hong Kong's fielding effort was littered with errors throughout the chase and yet Jersey failed to maximise the extra opportunities they were given. Jenner survived a chance at deep square-leg on 17 off Shah when Aarush Bhagwat misjudged a simple chance and came in too far only for the ball to land behind him and go for four. Jenner only added six more runs, though, before he was bowled missing a slog off Aizaz Khan.

Stevens was dropped on 17 and 32, but eventually fell after swinging over a thigh-high full toss from Ehsan Khan in the 13th. Ehsan made it two in two when Ward played around a straight ball. From cruising at 86 for 3, Jersey were now stumbling at 86 for 5.

Needing 59 off 42, Jersey tried but just couldn't find the boundary. Corey Bisson's four in the 15th off Haroon Arshad and a full toss heaved by Bisson over long-on off Kyle Christie in the 17th were the last times the ball cleared the rope. And with 29 off 18 balls, Jersey could only manage singles and twos. Nick Greenwood was spilled by Arshad at long-off but fell three balls later thanks to a sharp diving catch by Nizakat at long-on. With 15 needed off the final over, Aizaz conceded just five runs across the first five balls to clinch victory in a rare final-over thriller in Group B. It was Hong Kong's first win after three losses.

A proposed extra global 50-over event in the next ICC rights cycle from 2023 to 2031 cannot be allowed to take on a time slot or a duration that will place further pressure on an already squeezed international schedule, the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has said.

Speaking in the wake of the most recent round of ICC meetings in Dubai this month, where it was announced that a working group of member nations had agreed in principle to the chief executive Manu Sawhney's idea of selling eight ICC men's events in eight years as part of the next broadcast rights package, Roberts echoed the concerns of the BCCI and also the ECB about the prospect of more global events squeezing the bilateral calendar.

In what is becoming an increasingly divided cricket world between rich and poor nations, it is believed that as few as four major boards still see bilateral broadcast rights as their best source of income alongside domestic T20 leagues, while the rest are increasingly reliant on the revenue flowing from the ICC's sale of a global tournament package over eight years. Roberts, mindful of how CA must guard its place in a tightly packed southern hemisphere seasonal window, said there would be concerns for Test cricket should another event take up too much room.

"If it occupied too much of the calendar, but not if it occupied an appropriate part of the calendar," Roberts told SEN Radio. "So it all comes down to where everything fits across the 52 weeks of the year, it'd be fantastic if you could help us create a 56-week year, but I'm not sure that we can do that. So there's no aversion to another tournament but absolutely we've got to take care to make sure the pieces of the puzzle fit together as best they can.

"The ICC schedule of tournaments is certainly something that is absolutely up for discussion at the moment and will continue in the months ahead. There's a sense that fans really value World Cups and international events in general, and in this last cycle on the men's side I think we've had six world events in the eight years whereas the previous cycle we had one event per year with the Champions Trophy as part of that."

The ICC had only recently concluded a long and arduous process of sorting out bilateral series between nations into Test and ODI leagues, with the Test Championship culminating in a final every two years - the first to come in 2021 - and the ODI league serving as the road to World Cup qualification. Roberts' predecessor James Sutherland was a longtime proponent of this change, but the return to eight ICC events in with years would effectively serve to compete against the newly formed leagues before they had become established.

CA, as part of the schedule working group, has agreed to further discussions of the proposal, albeit with lots of conditions surrounding timing and tournament length. "We're supportive of exploring it in principle," Roberts said.

"What we're really keen to work on with the ICC and what we will be working on with the ICC and other ICC members is what parts of the annual calendar might the ICC events occupy in future, how many days of the calendar does that represent and how do we ensure the bilateral international cricket between ourselves and other nations is really embraced and respected in the process, so we've got a healthy balance of World Cups along with international cricket that occurs between World Cups and the space for great domestic leagues like the BBL and the IPL to thrive into the future."

"So it'll be a balancing act, we're supportive of the principle and we all know we've got a lot of work ahead of us on this calendar from 2023 to 2031. Broadly speaking the discussion and debate is around the opportunity to move from six events in a cycle back to eight events in a cycle which we used to have, and then the big question around all of that is if international cricket goes that way, then what will those tournaments look like, and that's the piece that remains unresolved."

The success of this year's World Cup in England, in terms of broadcast audiences and global interest, has helped to expedite the discussion, but Roberts and CA have plenty to consider given how much of their financial strength is drawn from domestic and international broadcast deals for bilateral cricket - AU$1.2 billion for the current broadcast rights deal in Australia alone.

"I think everyone's excited about the extent to which World Cups are really resonating with cricket fans and then the opportunity to keep improving the experience of those for fans and for players," Roberts said. "Because playing in World Cups in sports like cricket is something that's really difficult for a lot of athletes to do in other codes and it's a real competitive advantage for us in cricket that we want to capitalise on."

Shane Warne believes the lack of cover for Nathan Lyon as Australia's Test spinner is a "real issue" and he has been disappointed with some states not selecting a frontline spinner in the early stages of the Sheffield Shield.

While Australia would not want to lose Steven Smith or Pat Cummins to injury, the loss of Lyon could be an even bigger headache given the gap that has developed between him and the rest of the options available around the country.

Australia did not select a second frontline spinner for the Ashes with Jon Holland, the Victoria left-arm bowler who was in the Australia A squad, not making the cut leaving Marnus Labuschagne's improving legspin as the next spin-bowling resource.

Labuschagne is a more-than-handy option for Tim Paine to have - as he showed with the ripping leg-break to remove Jack Leach late in the Old Trafford Test - but it would be a tall order for him to be thrust into a Test as the only spinner.

It is not a problem Australia have had to confront with Lyon's impressive durability meaning he has never missed a Test through injury during a 91-match career that has brought 363 wickets, but all it would take is a fielding mishap or blow in the nets to leave a significant problem.

Holland probably remains the next in line, but he was left out of Victoria's match against Western Australia in Perth, Ashton Agar might be a candidate while Queensland's Mitch Swepson was the second-highest wicket-taker among spinners last season but has yet to play this summer.

"Luckily we have such a quality spinner in Lyon, he's done so well in all conditions around the world, held that attack together, but if something happened to him it would be a real issue," Warne said at Fox Cricket's season launch. "It's important for Australia - I'm not saying Lyon is retiring or anything, he's got a lot more in him - that if something does happen for Australia that someone could set up."

Only four spinners other than Lyon took more than 10 wickets in the Sheffield Shield last season: South Australia's Tom Andrews (12 at 14.50), Steve O'Keefe (20 at 27.95), Swepson (24 at 38.16) and Holland (26 at 28.15). In the first two rounds of this season's tournament, just 18 wickets have fallen to spin. That, perhaps, is partly mitigated by there being two matches at the WACA and the Gabba but Warne said that room should be made for a frontline spinner regardless of conditions for the benefit of Australian cricket.

"They should always pick a spinner, it's disappointing if sides are not picking spinners regardless of conditions we should be encouraging spinners in all forms because they'll learn how to bowl in different conditions. The job of Sheffield Shield sides is to make sure you are producing international cricketers, it's not just looking after your own state. You have to make sure Australian cricket is strong and they should be picking spinners."

In terms of Australia's side for the opening Test against Pakistan next month, Warne endorsed bringing Usman Khawaja back to open alongside David Warner and introducing Will Pucovski at No. 6. "I think it's time we picked a good, young player in there, bit like the old Australian way. Put him in at No. 6 and he can work his way up," he said.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan's aggressive attitude during the Wednesday meeting between the board officials and the striking cricketers, with his takedown of allrounder Mehidy Hasan, throwing the players off to start with, one of them even saying that the incident "rattled" them.

"Miraz [Mehidy], what have I not done for you, and you didn't pick up my phone call? From today onwards, I will delete your number from my phone," Hassan raged at the start of the meeting, and the young allrounder cowered, sinking in his seat.

In many ways, the start of the meeting was a continuation of the previous day's press conference - Hassan targeting a player for taking personal favours from him and then joining the strike; that soured the mood of the group that had arrived in the evening hoping for an amicable solution.

It was an extraordinary way to begin a discussion that had so much riding on it for everyone concerned. On the one side were the players, who had just agreed among themselves that they would face their paymasters and thrash the issues out. On the other were the BCB officials, who knew that if they couldn't provide a solution, it would have deep repercussions.

But after Hassan's counter-attacking stance, the players said they were thrown off kilter. Many of the players, who were active in discussions in the previous 48 hours, kept mum, saying nothing after Hassan slammed Mehidy.

"We were told that all of our demands were met, but there was no actual detail. This was quite confusing, as we wanted to know exactly by how much, for example, the NCL [National Cricket League] match fees will be increased. There was no clear direction"

"The Miraz thing rattled us," one player told ESPNcricinfo on condition of anonymity. "The way the meeting began, it didn't leave us with much to say. Shakib [Al Hasan] managed to put forth our points but the rest of us simply didn't have the mentality to bargain.

"We were told that all of our demands were met, but there was no actual detail. This was quite confusing, as we wanted to know exactly by how much, for example, the NCL [National Cricket League] match fees will be increased. There was no clear direction." But Hassan, who later admitted in a press conference that he had lost his temper, then clarified the BCB's stance on each demand.

The BCB stayed out of discussions about the fresh elections of the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh [CWAB], but association president Naimur Rahman agreed to hold elections soon. The players said that they wanted a representative from the current players so that they could regularly speak to the board about their issues. This representative is going to be a pivotal point for the rest of their demands, as the BCB committed that once this person is elected, they will respect the position.

About the Dhaka Premier League's return to a free-market system for player transfers, Hassan asked what would happen if the clubs don't pay the players in time. The players said they would handle it.

Then came the longest discussion, on the demand for first-class cricketers getting higher match fees, daily and travel allowances. Some domestic stalwarts like Mohammad Sharif, Shahriar Nafees, Nabil Samad and Enamul Haque jnr put up the players' point of view, but after the back and forth, they weren't fully certain of the outcome. The new fee structure wasn't communicated to the players, but Hassan did later say that it would be firmed up within "two or three days".

Hassan also agreed to the demand of infrastructural development in cricket centres across the country in one consolidated go, and not one by one as was previously planned by the board.

There was also discussion about an extra one-day and T20 tournament in the domestic season, which the BCB said they would try to fit in later this season.

While many of the players left the meeting unconvinced, aggrieved and confused, there was also a sense of hope.

"The fact that we could all come together under one cause was what shook the BCB," one cricketer said. "I think they couldn't believe that more cricketers joined us on the third day of our strike. They must have expected fewer cricketers to be with the movement.

"So we have to remain strong together, and ensure that we get our demands implemented."

The players now feel proper follow-ups are required on their part, to ensure that the BCB keeps its side of the bargain. They believe that if the CWAB elections are held soon, it would be a major breakthrough, as it would give them a stronger say in every matter.

They remain hopeful that despite all the personal attacks, Bangladesh cricket will see a new direction. At least a start has been made, but the players might have to monitor the progress (or lack of it) themselves.

CHIBA, Japan -- The first three holes for Tiger Woods on Thursday were so bad that his caddie, Joe LaCava, joked he could have parred at least one of them.

Maybe so.

But it's unlikely LaCava -- or anyone in the Zozo Championship field, as it turned out -- could go on the run Woods did to vault to the top of the leaderboard.

An opening tee shot in the water, another in the trees and a three-putt green were the way Woods ingloriously began his 2019-20 PGA Tour season. Then, he made nine birdies over the ensuing 15 holes to shoot a 6-under-par 64 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.

"I certainly was not expecting to shoot 6 under after that start,'' said Woods, whose 64 is his lowest since he shot 62 to open the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink. "That was a very ugly start.

"To be able to flip it like that, I felt if I could get to under par for that -- I figure most of the guys would be about 2, 3 under par with the wind blowing as hard as it was today -- that I wouldn't be that far behind. It flipped, and I got hot and made a bunch of putts.''

Woods needed just 27 putts, and only one -- at the seventh, a 30-footer --- was long. For the round, Woods hit 15 greens in regulation despite hitting only three of 13 fairways.

It was good for a rare first-round lead, shared with U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland. The last time Woods owned a solo first-round lead was the 2009 PGA Championship.

Woods and Woodland have a one-shot advantage over Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, the second-most popular player in the field.

Woods' start, however, could hardly have been worse.

Beginning on the rather benign par-4 10th, a dogleg left that is guarded by water, Woods was immediately conflicted about what to hit and finally selected a 5-wood that he hooked into the hazard.

"I wasn't committed to it,'' he said. "Our game plan was hit 5-wood all along, and I decided that I couldn't cover the water with 5-wood, and the way I was hitting it on the range, I was hitting some spinner 5-woods. Maybe I need to hit a 3-wood and take the water out of play.

"Went back to the 5-wood after having a 3-wood in my hand, didn't cover. So that was a lack of commitment on my part of what club to hit, what shot to hit, and on top of that, bad execution.''

Woods knocked his approach close but couldn't get his par putt to drop. Then, he pulled hooked his tee shot at the par-4 11th into the trees, his ball bouncing back into an awkward lie in a bunker. Another bogey.

And then, he three-putted the 12th green, at which point Woods had three straight bogeys and was ahead of just one player in the field.

"I hadn't hit a good shot yet,'' he said.

But the round started to turn when he hit a couple of good shots on the 13th before going on a run. Woods birdied four of the last five holes on the side to turn in 1-under 35.

After a couple of close calls at the first and second holes, he made three straight birdies and five overall on the front side for a 29.

"I just tried to hang in there,'' he said. "I was trying to turn the round from 3 over par to even par at the turn. And I made a bunch of putts. My putter has felt good. I've rolled it nicely. I'm just trying to give myself good looks at it. And I didn't give myself any looks the first three holes. I felt my iron game was sharp and figured if I could get the ball in a position where I can attack, as soft as they are, I figured I make a few. And I made more than a few.''

Woods is making his PGA Tour season debut after a nine-week break that included left knee surgery on Aug. 20. It is his first tournament in Japan since he lost in a playoff at the 2006 Dunlap Phoenix to Padraig Harrington at an event he had won the previous two years. This is also the first official PGA Tour event in Japan.

The time away followed a disappointing summer for Woods, who won the Masters in April, then never contended in another tournament, plagued by back stiffness, an oblique injury and knee issues that he first acknowledged this week.

In six tournaments following the Masters, Woods missed two cuts, withdrew from another tournament and had a best finish of a tie for ninth at the Memorial Tournament in June.

Woods played with Tommy Fleetwood and Japan's Satoshi Kodaira, who is ranked 186th in the world and admitted he was nervous teeing it up with Woods for the first time.

Some of that subsided when he saw Woods' start.

"I thought 'Wow, Tiger can start a tournament, bogey, bogey, bogey,''' Kodaira said. "But, obviously, you saw that he played well the rest of the way. His iron shots looked like they were short shots. And he had such good rhythm from his driver on to his irons. I learned a lot from him today.''

Due to a poor weather forecast that predicts heavy rain all day Friday, tee times have been moved earlier, with the chance the round will be suspended.

"It's going to be a grind,'' Woods said. "There's probably going to be a lot of golf on the weekend for all of us.''

Charlotte Hornets forward Nicolas Batum fractured a finger on his left hand in Wednesday's 126-125 win over the Chicago Bulls, the team said.

Batum returned to the locker room after the third quarter with what the team initially said was a sprained hand. After the game, the Hornets said an X-ray revealed a fracture on the third digit on Batum's left hand.

He is listed as day-to-day.

Batum didn't attempt a field goal in 11 minutes in Wednesday's victory, but he had four rebounds and two assists.

Now in his fifth season with the Hornets, Batum started 72 games last season and averaged 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Frank Vogel admitted that Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers disrupted "everything" in the Los Angeles Lakers' 112-102 loss on opening night. But in straying from their intended pick-and-roll-heavy offense because of the Clippers' switching schemes, Vogel believes the Lakers happened upon an effective alternative.

"The first positive is our post offense is a problem for other teams," Vogel said Wednesday when asked to share a hopeful tidbit gleaned from the Lakers' film session.

The Lakers' post offense was far more effective than any pick-based possession. It wasn't close, really. In 30 pick plays, L.A. averaged 0.56 points per possession, well below the 2018-19 NBA average of 0.97 points on those plays, according to Second Spectrum.

However, the Lakers' 27 post-up plays worked out to the tune of 1.17 points per possession, which would have been the best rate in the league last season if L.A. had carried it all season, per Second Spectrum.

Chief among the post-up targets was Anthony Davis, who posted up 22 times in his Lakers debut, according to Second Spectrum, the second-most he has posted up in a game in the past seven seasons, which is as far back as the data go.

"They couldn't stop him," Vogel said of Davis on the block. "So whatever works, you go to it again, and we just kept going to him."

When the pick-and-roll gets blown up like it did Tuesday, Vogel says there are other counters L.A. can use beyond simply riding Davis.

"We can pass and cut a lot more than we did," he said. "We can run a lot more than we did."

Vogel also said that when the Lakers do post up, they can space the floor around the man with the ball much better.

There are no plans to abandon the pick-and-roll. Instead, Rajon Rondo, who missed opening night with a sore calf, will be in the mix running screen-roll action in the future.

"I envision Rajon Rondo being a major player for us this year -- 25-30 minutes a game guy, whether he starts or comes off the bench," Vogel said, adding that Rondo remains day-to-day ahead of Friday's game against the Utah Jazz.

Rondo, 33, averaged 9.2 points on 40.5% shooting (35.9% from 3) with 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds last season, his first with the Lakers. However, he had a real plus-minus of negative 3.56 points per 100 possessions, meaning that over the course of the season, L.A. seemed to lose ground when he was in the lineup.

Vogel gave Rondo's minutes exclusively to Quinn Cook in the opener. Cook finished with four points on 2-for-7 shooting, two assists and one turnover in 17 minutes. He missed two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter while L.A. was trying to keep pace with the Clippers. He too was dealing with a sore calf muscle, which limited his role.

Alex Caruso, who is expected to get a look in Vogel's backcourt rotation, was available to play coming off a bruised pelvic bone in the preseason, but Vogel kept him on the bench.

All of those circumstances led to LeBron James playing 36 minutes at point guard, and he struggled down the stretch, shooting just 1-for-4 in the fourth quarter with three turnovers.

James' workload is another area in which Rondo figures to be a factor.

"I think when Rajon comes back, we'll have the mindset that he can quarterback the offense with anybody that's out there," Vogel said.

The Lakers will apply the lessons learned from the loss to the Clippers.

"I think getting Rajon Rondo back will put us in a lot more pick-and-rolls, but our post offense was something [the Clippers] had to deal with," Vogel said. "We were heavier in the post than maybe we will be throughout the season because of it being effective for us, but we continue to make sure we have a diverse package out there."

DALLAS -- Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal got sick of seeing Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic score with ease Wednesday night and decided to do something about it.

Beal made it his mission to get physical with Doncic in the fourth quarter. That resulted in several chippy exchanges between the stars, who talked trash and repeatedly bumped and shoved each other, eventually leading to double technical fouls with 1:09 remaining and Beal's ejection when he dismissed that call with a wave.

However, there were no hard feelings between Doncic and Beal after the Mavs' season-opening 108-100 win at the American Airlines Center. They instead swapped postgame compliments via the media.

"That was great. That's what basketball is about," said Doncic, whose 34 points were one shy of his career high and the most ever by a player younger than 21 in a season opener, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. "You don't have no friends on the court. I respect him for doing that. Everybody's saying he's only a fancy player. No, he showed he's great on defense, too. He showed that there, so I respect it for him."

Beal, who had 19 points and nine assists but was only 7-of-25 from the floor and 1-of-11 from 3-point range, exchanged hugs and pleasantries with Doncic before leaving the court after his ejection.

"It was just hoops," Beal said. "You could see when I got kicked out, he came up and was the first one to dap me, so he understood what it was. We weren't fighting. It was just basketball, trying to frustrate him. He was kicking our butts, so you've got to do something."

Doncic, last season's Rookie of the Year, dominated the first three quarters to carry the Mavs to a 23-point lead. He had 32 points in 28 minutes by the end of the third quarter, hitting 12 of 18 shots from the floor, swishing half of his eight 3-point attempts and driving into the lane for the rest of his buckets.

With Beal harassing him with the help of occasional double-teams, Doncic managed to attempt only one shot from the floor in the fourth quarter. His two points in the final quarter came on free throws after Beal had been ejected.

"He had it going all night," Beal said. "He's a tough guard. He's a physical guy. He can get any shot pretty much that he wants, and I think we let him a little bit too comfortable. Granted, he was able to draw fouls in that aspect, but I think it was still a lot of 3s he got, a lot of straight-line drives. I just wanted to frustrated him a little bit."

Beal praised Doncic for being "very mature for his age" and joked that Doncic has "been a pro since he was 10 probably," a reference to the Mavs star's four seasons of experience with Real Madrid's top club in Liga ACB and the EuroLeague before entering the NBA.

Doncic, the youngest MVP in EuroLeague history in his last season with Real Madrid, also referenced that experience when making the point that he's accustomed to being defended physically.

"I got used to it last year -- and the year before and the year before," Doncic said. "I'm used to it."

Although Beal had no postgame issues with Doncic, he wasn't pleased with his ejection by referee Jonathan Sterling. Beal didn't argue on the court, but he said he planned to discuss it with the NBA office Thursday in hopes of getting the second technical foul rescinded.

"His first technical foul was as a result of a double technical foul for a physical taunt with the opponent, Doncic," crew chief Ken Mauer told a pool reporter. "They both came together, bumped each other, so my partner calls a double technical foul. Then, Bradley Beal then proceeds to look at that official, and in protest of that call, he waves him off, which is a respect for the game guideline and a technical foul, an automatic technical foul. We're taught to give a technical foul, so that was his second technical foul. So, it's the double technical foul for the taunt, second one for the wave off to the referee."

NEW YORK -- Kyrie Irving oozed swagger when he walked onto the court during the starting lineup announcement Wednesday night. After all, Irving viewed this -- the Brooklyn Nets' regular-season opener -- as a sort of homecoming.

To mark the occasion, he dazzled offensively and broke four records.

The guard finished with 50 points. When he hit 32 points, he set a record for points scored in a Nets player's NBA debut. The previous mark was 30, set by D'Angelo Russell in 2017.

When Irving hit 48 points, he set a record for points scored in a debut for any NBA team. The previous mark of 47 points was set by Kiki Vandeweghe in 1984.

Then, Irving hit 50. There had been only six 50-point games in Nets franchise history, and the most recent one was recorded in 2012 by Deron Williams. The player with the most recent 50-point opener was Anthony Davis, and before Davis, it was Michael Jordan.

But it wasn't a hiccup-free game for Irving. Brooklyn fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-126 in overtime. Midgame doldrums came in the form of turnovers and missed free throws.

"The job wasn't done," Irving said after the game. "So that 50 just goes into just another few numbers that -- it holds value, but not really when you don't get a win."

Even as the Nets began to spiral toward an 0-1 record, Irving got a warm reception from fans. He was introduced last in the starting lineup -- a basketball honor reserved for a team's long-tenured star. He was given a corner locker in the Nets' locker room -- another league-wide symbol of stature.

The Barclays Center crowd erupted when Irving sank his first basket. Every time he charged toward the basket after that, fans let out an audible "ooh" or gasp. Irving appeared determined to dazzle, throwing somewhat haphazard and unnecessary behind-the-back passes minutes into the first quarter.

At the end of the first half, Irving had 25 points but just three assists, and the Nets trailed by 12 points. At halftime, coach Kenny Atkinson pointed out to the team that, collectively, it had only eight assists. Irving seemed to be looking to pass to his teammates more in the third quarter.

"We have a phrase that we use: 'play with the pass,'" Atkinson said. "I do think that is guys not playing together, and that is part of it."

The game would wind up going to overtime, but Atkinson maintains that the Nets' early deficit -- and expelling too much energy digging themselves out of that hole -- is what ended up costing Brooklyn the game.

"This is one game," Irving said. "One of 82. So, don't need to get nervous. Just keep knocking them down."

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers spent the offseason building a team focused on a very specific identity: being big and physical and imposing their will on their opponents at both ends of the court.

And, if Philadelphia's season-opening 107-93 victory over the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night is any indication, that blueprint is going to lead the Sixers to quite a few wins.

"Overall the mentality was to go in and [play] 'smashmouth basketball,' as coach says, and I think we did a pretty good job," Sixers forward Matisse Thybulle said. "We always have room to build, but to set the tone, this way was really good for us."

Though the Celtics boast a roster that includes an All-NBA point guard in Kemba Walker, a former All-Star in Gordon Hayward and rising youngsters in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they continually looked flustered. They forced contested jumpers. In the rare instances they got an open look, they appeared to rush their shot in fear of losing the space that they'd so briefly created.

"We just tried to make it tough on them every trip down," 76ers guard Ben Simmons said. "You know, they have a lot of talented guys and we were just trying to make sure they had tough shots. I think everybody did a solid job of that."

Simmons did not attempt a 3-pointer, but he set the tone for the Sixers offensively, going for 24 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in 35 minutes. He pushed the ball upcourt whenever he had an opportunity, resulting in several easy buckets in transition. The Celtics tried several options to slow him down, but none of them worked.

"He is just so gifted physically, but it's also his mentality," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "You take that 6-[foot]-10 body and that athleticism, that physical tank-like mentality, and it's an alpha combination.

"He was trying to put his thumbprint on the game from a physical standpoint."

The same could be said for the rest of his teammates. It wasn't a perfect or pretty game, but there won't be many of those involving the Sixers this season.

There will, however, be plenty of wins.

Philadelphia's shooting remains a work in progress

Yes, the Sixers won this game and can probably win a lot of games shooting this way, given their size, strength and physicality.

Philadelphia outrebounded Boston by 21, outscored Boston 58-44 in the paint and held the Celtics to an abysmal 36.7% shooting performance overall, along with going 7-for-26 from 3-point range.

But if Philadelphia wants to win a title this season, it probably will have to shoot better than 24% from 3-point range to do so.

"On offense, we missed a lot of shots," Brown said. "I loved the fact that we got to the free throw line as much as we did, and I liked the war of attrition.

"We were trying to play as physical as we could and put them in foul trouble. Had our defense not been our defense, we might have seen a different result."

The problem for the Sixers is that it's hard to see where that shooting is going to come from. The bench is full of streaky shooters like Mike Scott and Furkan Korkmaz, and Thybulle isn't yet a reliable option from deep.

Al Horford and Josh Richardson went a combined 1-for-10, something that shouldn't happen all that often, but they also aren't likely to go 5-for-10 very often, either.

This was the thing the Sixers came into the season knowing would be their biggest issue (aside from health). And, though they won Wednesday night, they were given a clear indication it is going to be something they have to address at some point.

Matisse Thybulle is endearing himself to Philadelphia

Throughout the preseason, Thybulle has received plaudits for his immediate ability to impact the game defensively. He quickly showed why.

The No. 20 overall pick scored only three points in 21 minutes, but he had two steals, two blocks and effectively hounded Walker whenever he was on the court.

"It was intimidating at first, to think this is someone I have watched for years, played as on NBA2K, so I know what he's capable of," Thybulle said. "Then to get out there and guard him mano a mano was a pretty cool experience. But it was also good for me just to see how I matched up against one of the best in the league."

Thybulle quickly got yanked out of the game after Walker suckered him into two fouls in about 10 seconds, but the rookie improved as the game went along, stealing the ball from Walker on one play and blocking his shot on another.

It was just the latest impressive display from the former Washington star, who was the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year each of the past two seasons. He even managed to throw in a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, one that he almost flung at the basket as Walker crowded his space in the corner in front of Philadelphia's bench.

"I'm not sure how that one went in, but I think it was a foul," he said with a smile.

The Sixers will need Thybulle to be able to knock down an occasional 3-pointer or two to alleviate some of the shooting issues they have and also to ensure he can stay on the court. But his defense is already earning him some rare comparisons.

"I've not seen a rookie come in with his defensive skills and that's impressive," Tobias Harris said. "The only guy I would say is Kawhi [Leonard], coming in as a rookie, everybody knew he was a top defender."

To say the Sixers are happy with their selection with the 20th pick in June's NBA draft -- a pick that came, by the way, in a trade with these same Celtics -- is an understatement.

Kemba Walker will have better nights

This was not the debut in a Boston uniform Walker was hoping for.

"It felt good," Walker said of making his Celtics debut. "Just a little bit disappointed obviously. Tough night for many of us, but me personally, I just wish I could have done a lot more and played better for these guys.

"But you live and you learn. There's nothing you can really do but try and get better for the next one."

It will be hard for Walker to be worse. He finished the game 4-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-6 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 34 minutes.

Walker, like the rest of the Celtics, never looked comfortable against the enormous Sixers. Last season, he dropped 60 points on Philadelphia, which routinely struggled to guard small attacking players like Walker. That doesn't look as if it will be the case this season thanks to the presence of Richardson, who had a phenomenal defensive game, and should be in contention for All-Defensive Team honors this season.

There's no doubt Walker will be much better than he was Wednesday on many nights this season. But for someone who spoke at Wednesday's morning shootaround about how excited he was to open the season on national television, something he'd never done before, this was a disappointing start to his time in Celtics green and white.

Jayson Tatum is shooting the right shots

Tatum had a clear goal coming into this season: average at least 6 3-pointers and six free throws attempted per game, turning his shot chart into a more modern-looking one.

From that standpoint, Wednesday's game was a mixed bag.

There's little doubt Tatum was aggressive in this one, finishing with a game-high 22 shot attempts -- including going 4-for-8 from 3-point range. But going 4-for-14 from inside the arc is not exactly what Boston will be looking for from him, to say the least.

Still, Tatum made decisive moves, and did his best to attack Philadelphia's imposing size and length -- though, at times, it would've been more prudent for him to move the ball elsewhere. And while he took only three free throws, that attacking mentality will lead to more attempts from the line if he sticks with it.

"I don't think anybody was nervous," Tatum said. "It was just one of them nights. Like, I felt like I couldn't throw a rock in the ocean."

The same could be said for the rest of his teammates. But if Tatum continues hunting for shots the way he did Wednesday, his goal will be well within reach.

Al Horford adds a new twist to a classic rivalry

Horford has never been the fiery, emotional type. He also has never been one to cause much controversy.

That is what made it all the more amusing for him to be thrust into the center of one of the NBA's most enduring rivalries when he chose to leave the Celtics for the Sixers as a free agent this summer. And on Wednesday night, Philadelphia did its best to play that up.

The Sixers designated Horford as the "bell-ringer," the person who comes out and hits a replica of the Liberty Bell, in what was thought to be a first in terms of having an active player do the honors. Then, during the game, Horford was wildly cheered by the crowd every time he touched the ball.

"It's still very weird to me," Horford said of playing against the Celtics. "It felt good to go out and get a win and just kind of [have a] 'It's finally over' type of thing. ... I [had] a lot of emotion leading up to this, so I'm just very happy that we came out, we competed, and we were able to get this first win."

It was a typically understated performance from Horford on the court, but he slotted into Philadelphia's system perfectly, adding his elite basketball IQ and defensive capabilities to a team already stuffed full of it. And while Philadelphia needs him to do better than that 1-for-6 from 3-point range, Horford gave the Sixers exactly what they thought they were getting when they got him away from Boston this summer.