Since it was opening day and there hasn't been a single recap posted, I figured I'd do this quick review of the first games of the 2008/09 season.

Raptors 103, Jazz 80

The season kicked off with 103-80 blowout win of the young raptors over injury-ravaged and undersized Utah. This first week is already a good indicator of what a bad move it was to trade for Tracy McGrady. The Jazz have little depth on the wings behind their injury prone stars McGrady and Kevin Martin. They were forced to go with a starting backcourt of 6-footers Telfair and Conley with Jaric at the 3.

Despite having two point guards, Utah turned the ball over 19 times, recorded only two steals and shot 54% from the line. Toronto did everything right, had only 8 turnovers and shot 92% on free-throws.

The only disappointment was the debut of much-heralded rookie Mario Chalmers, who went 0-5 for two points in eight minutes off the bench.

Sixers 103, Bulls 95

Shaq looked like his old self going against Big Z and dropped 27 points on 12-17 shooting. He did get some help from Ron Artest and Antony Parker, but that was about it. Ford was mostly out of control, shooting 5-14 and turning it over 5 times and no other Bull was in double figures.

Andre Miller continues his shoot-first tendencies for the Sixers in this game with a team-high 16 shots, and 10 free-throws. It didn't backfire since Ilgauskaus, Hamilton and Thorton shot the ball well, while Deng and Barbosa combined for a sizzling 14-20 from the bench.

Al Thornton however needs to learn how to handle the rock, as he commited 8 turnovers. Surprise starter at PF Jeff Green crashed the boards well and shut down veteran Drew Gooden.

Bulls 100, T'Wolves 101

The Bulls had another game directly afterwards that looked earily similar to the Sixers game. A lot of production from Shaq, even less from Ford, and even more turnovers. It resulted in a disappointing one-point loss.

Minnesota meanwhile was lead by Antawn Jamison with 35 and 12. Rookie Anthony Randolph started at small forward and dropped in 17 and 5 assists in his pro debut.

Bucks 82, Pistons 67

What a great start for the Bucks, one of the youngest teams in the league. The Pistons might be missing Allstar Carlos Boozer, but they are still loaded on every position. It is very disappointing for them to score only 67 points, shooting 33% from the floor. But maybe the credit should be given to Scott Skiles who prepared his team perfectly. Especially rookie Westbrook and Javaris Crittenton who held their more experienced counterparts to 2-18 shooting. Thaddeus Young delivered 24 points in his first game as the go-to guy.

None of the Pistons came through, with Okur having a forgettable 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 turnovers.

Bucks 76, Lakers 89

After manhandling the Pistons, the Bucks were visibly exhausted. They turned the ball over a lot and allowed second chances after misses and blocks, resulting in a 90-71 shot-advantage for a deep Lakers team. If not for Ronald Murray's 3-21 stinker, this should have been a blowout. Still a nice opening win for the Lakers.

Pacers 69, T'Wolves 79

Let's be honest. With Nash, Arenas and O'Neal out, the Pacers are a D-League team. At best. And although Indy won both the first and third quarter 19-16, the Wolves probably didn't have to exert themselves here.

Heat 96, Clippers 93

On a night where Hedo Turkoglu and Deshawn Stevenson (20 and 24) match the output of Lebron James and Manu Ginobili (27 and 22) things came down to free-throws. Despite both teams finishing with 18 fouls, the Heat enjoyed a 31-15 advantage at the line. It didn't help that the Clips made all 15. It was too much to overcome.

Bobcats 91, Sixers 108

Richard Hamilton led a balanced Sixers attack with 18 in another easy win over the Bobcats. It was another game with lopsided free-throws. 40 for Philly and only 20 for Charlotte, but this time the foul-statistics speaks a clear languague as well (12 to 24). It's good to be the three-time Eastern Conference champions sometimes.

Ben Gordon led the Cats with 22 on an efficient 9-12 shooting. Big free-agent addition Al Harrington was solid with 16 and 10.

Suns 100, Hornets 92

Both team went through major shake-ups this offseason. The Suns lost Brand and Manu, but acquired several young players. The Hornets most notabale additions were Shawn Marion and Mike Miller. Marion looked good with 27 and 7, but Miller had the jitters going 3-10, although he did add 8 assists.

The Suns were led by 30 from Bibby, who needed only 12 shots to get there. Surprisingly they also outrebounded New Orleans 43-32.

T'Wolves 110, Bobcats 93

Minnesota went for their third straight win on opening day, dropping a season-high 110 on Charlotte. Jamison scored 40 and established himself as the top-scorer of the young season. Rookie Randolph had another nice game with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

Nuggets 109, Bulls 106

For the second straight game the Bulls lose by a single possession and Kobe gets the better of Shaq despite both scoring 22 and Shaq having the better overall game.

Nine of the ten starters scored in double-figures, with only Drew Gooden missing out.

Hawks 90, Grizzlies 102

The Hawks and Grizzlies will get both of their games this season done in week 1. The Grizz, led by 29 from Bosh, drew first blood. But Hawks fans left the game excited nevertheless, because rookie Greg Oden delivered a monster game. 15 points, 20 rebounds and 8 blocks. Oh, and Jamal Crawford matched Jamison's 40 from earlier in the day.

Knicks 95, Celtics 91

Q-Rich and Korver faced their former team, as did Raja Bell and Ronnie Price. The first three played reasonably well and Price wasn't all bad either.

The Knicks played solid defense, recorded 11 steals and 9 blocks with only 9 fouls. But they couldn't capitalize on it because they missed a lot of freebies at the line.

Iverson led all scorers with 28. Newcomer Brand was more of a presence on the boards (10 offensive rebounds) and defense (4 blocks), than on offense (14 points).

Backup point-guard Anthony Johnson led the Celtics with 18, but took a record-setting 24 shots in 19 minutes, because starter Rany Foye was saddled with foul troubles.

Spurs 91, Pacers 76

What else can you say about the Pacers. Their best player was backup Roko Ukic, who scored 17 in 16 minutes. Tony Parker had an off shooting night, but continued firing away (11-29) for 27 points. Tim Duncan, who had 24 and 18, was a perfect 8-8 from the line.

That's it folks.