The 2009-10 NBA Season Debuts on ESPN

The 2009-10 NBA season debuted on ESPN Wednesday night. The network showed a pair of games featuring Western Conference playoff teams from a year ago.

The first half of the double-headed featured a new and improved San Antonio Spurs team demolishing the New Orleans Hornets. The second game saw the Denver Nuggets picking up where they left off last season by silencing the Utah Jazz.

While the NBA season officially got underway Tuesday night, only eight teams were in action. On Wednesday night, 20 teams began their 2009-10 campaign.

After doing the math, there are still two teams that have yet to take to the court. The Chicago Bulls begin their season Thursday while the Milwaukee Bucks start their quest for another lottery pick Friday.

Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come, but Wednesday night was riddled with blow outs and beat downs. The worst such pounding was the Boston Celtics crushing the Charlotte Bobcats by 33 points.

And don't look now but the Cleveland Cavs are on pace for a 0-82 season. We explain below...

Orlando 120, Philadelphia 106
Vince Carter scored 15 points in his Orlando Magic debut while Dwight Howard led the team with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

The Magic shot 55 percent from the field as they pummeled the Philadelphia 76'ers, 120-106. The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates. They Magic led 100-69 at the start of the 4th quarter.

Only one starter for the 76'ers scored more than 10 points, guard Louis Williams. Philly reserves Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono scored 26 and 13 respectively.

Atlanta 120, Indiana 109
All five Atlanta Hawks starters scored in double figures as the East's fourth best team cruised to a 120-109 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 31. Earl Watson had 20 and Dahntay Jones added 17. Both Watson and Jones came off the bench.

17,998 were on hand to see the Pacers commit 25 turnovers. Both teams shot over 52 percent from the field.

Toronto 101, Cleveland 91
Last year, the longest losing streak suffered by the Cleveland Cavaliers was two games.

The Cavs have already equaled that mark of futility just 2 days into the 2009-10 NBA season. What a difference a year makes.

Raptors rode a 28-point performance from center Andrea Bargnani (yeah, we've never heard of him either) to defeat the hapless Cavaliers, 101-91.

Hedo Turkoglu, in his Toronto debut, scored 12 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. Chris Bosh added 21 and 12.

LeBron James messed around and got a triple-double, 23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Cavs got more from their bench then they did last night, but as a team they shot just 35 percent from the field.

Here's the deal, the Cavs big men, Shaq, Varejao and Illgauskas, combined to score 16 points. The Raptors big men, Bosh and Bargnani, scored 49 points.

Boston 92, Charlotte 59
Does Boston know how to play defense or does Boston know how to play defense?

The Boston Celtics never allowed the Charlotte Bobcats to score more than 18 points in a quarter, that includes the third were the C's held the Cats to a measly 10 points. Boston wins a laugher at the Garden, 92-59.

Ray Allen led the Celtics with 18 points.

Eleven Bobcats scored but only Gerald Wallace managed to reach double-digits (and he only had 10 points). The Bobcats shot 31 percent from the field and were 0 for 10 from behind the 3-point line.

The Kitties couldn't even score from the foul line. They were 13 for 25 from the charity stripe.

Charlotte's 59 points was the lowest ever scored by an NBA team in a season opener in the shot clock era.

Miami 115, New York 93
The Miami Heat outscored the New York Knicks 34-15 in the 3rd Quarter to put the game away. The Heat eventually downed the Knicks 115-93.

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 26 points. Jermaine O'Neal added 22 points and 12 rebounds while Michael Beasley added 21.

The Knicks hoisted 39 3-pointers and made just 10. They attempted 4 more field goals than the Heat but shot just 38 percent from the field.

David Lee and Danilo Gallinari each scored 22 for the Knicks.

Knicks backup point guard, Nate Robinson, was 0 for 8 from the field, 0 for 5 from 3-point land, and he turned the ball three times. He finished with one point.

Oklahoma City 102, Sacramento 89
Kevin Durant scored 25 and Jeff Green added 24 as the Oklahoma City Thunder used a great shooting night (51 percent from the field, 57 percent from beyond the arc) to defeat the Sacramento Kings, 102-89.

Since no one can name anyone on the Kings besides Kevin Martin, we'll give you his stats and move on. Martin had 27 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He was a perfect 14 for 14 from the foul line.

San Antonio 113, New Orleans 96
This just in, the Spurs are good.

With six players in double-figures, and committing just 10 turnovers, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Orleans Hornets 113-96.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 17 points. Richard Jefferson, in his San Antonio debut, scored 5 points, dished out 5 assist and nabbed 4 boards.

Our pick for rookie of year, DeJuan Blair, had 14 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. Give him the award right now.

No Spurs player logged more than 29 minutes.

The best point guard in the game, Chris Paul, notched 26 points and 9 assists for the Hornets. David West added 18 and 9. No one else on that team played well enough to deserve any ink.

Minnesota 95, New Jersey 93
The Minnesota Timberwolves turned up the defense in the 4th quarter and held the New Jersey Nets to just 15 points. Thanks to that stand, the T-Wolves overcame a woeful shooting night, 37 percent from the field, to defeat the Nets, 95-93.
Damien Wilkins' putback at the buzzer gave Minnesota the victory.

New Jersey center Brook Lopez led all scorers with 27 points. He also grabbed 15 boards.

Minnesota rookie Jonny Flynn scored 13 of his 18 points in the 4th quarter to rally his team from a 19-point deficit. Flynn showed the courage to take big shots but the point guard had just 2 assists.

Detroit 96, Memphis 74
The Detroit Pistons took care of the ball (just 9 turnovers), shot well from the field (51 percent) and played solid defense (opponents shot 36 percent) in their 96-74 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Richard Hamilton scored 25 points and Ben Gordon added 22 for the Pistons.

Marc Gasol led the Griz with 21 points and 15 rebounds. In his Memphis debut, Zach Randolph recorded 14 points and nine rebounds.

Memphis was 2 for 12 from three-point land and their bench scored just 11 points.

Denver 114, Utah 105
With 6:17 left in the game, Denver's Carmello Anthony stole an ill-advised backcourt pass from Utah's Paul Millsap, took one dribbled, and then posterized him.

The monster slam gave the Nuggets a 10-point lead and pretty much sealed the deal. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Utah Jazz going away, 114-105.

Denver's MVP candidate, Carmello Anthony, had a game high 30 points. Rookie Ty Lawson impressed with 17 points.

The second best point guard in the league, Deron Williams, led Utah with 28 points and 13 assists. Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, struggled, finishing 3 for 14 from the field and scoring a dozen points.

Houston 108, Golden State 107
Golden State Warriors rookie Stephen Curry was 7 for 12 from the field. He scored 14 points and dished out 7 assists in 36 minutes of action. He shot just one 3-pointer and missed.

That's pretty much all you need to know about this matchup of two sorry NBA teams.

Phoenix 109, Los Angeles Clippers 107
The Clippers are plucky but sadly that doesn't win games in the NBA.

After a valiant effort against the Lakers Tuesday night, the Clips missed a last second three by Eric Gordon to lose 109-107 to the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns' Steve Nash scored 24 points (15 in the fourth quarter) and the ageless one Grant Hill, added a double-double, 19 points and 13 rebounds.

The Clippers' Marcus Camby also had a double-double, he notched 23 points and grabbed 11 boards.

Suns Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa, as well as Clippers Chris Haman and Eric Gordon all logged 40-plus minutes of playing time.