That is being said somewhere in Cleveland tonight, probably many times. And in San Antonio Tuesday night. Gag me. Yesss, there are 81 more games to go.
This was not just one game tonight in Philadelphia no different than when you're 15-13 an lose one to make it 15-14. No, it's very different. You are the owners of,
That was just one game, too. That was just the first game, as tonight's was.
One games are not fungible. They count the same in first grade arithmetic, but their meaning is different.
I cannot give enough credit to Adam Silver and staff in 645 Fifth. Every night this first week has been stacked with games that cognos and just fans know are more important than "It's just one game." The schedule makes it impossible for anyone to say with any credibility, "It's just one game."
Philadelphia's win in Mamdani City had way more meaning than "We're 1-0." Philadelphia's win tonight at home, overcoming a 29-point deficit, means more than if it had come against a bite team, like New Orleans or Miami.
The "Heat's" Horror Before Halloween means that after only 0-1, the entire gameplan for the remaining 81 has to be scrapped.
Oklahama City's pasting of the "Spurs" in San Antonio and neutering of Victor Webanyama, 12 points, 1/13 (0/4) just meanrt more.
Cleveland's opening night revives questions that go beyond 0-1--questions about head coach Kenny Atkinson, questions about Koby Altman and Dan Gilbert and standing pat and keeping Atkinson, questions about Donovan Mitchell, about this entire roster's toughness mentally and physically. I have watched just the first seven minutes of Atkinson's post-game. "What happened?" to that 29-point lead. "They upped their pressure, upped their physicality. They kept pressuring us and we didn't handle the pressure well." You could insert those comments in many Kenny Atkinson pressers over the last two-plus seasons and no one would notice your splicing.
We can say credibly, as a X user said tonight, that the NBA should be scared to death of Phila.
We can say tonight, after just one game, "Same old Cleveland".
We could say, and we did say, credibly last night that "This 'Heat' team doesn't work."
They're not just one games that all mean the same.
