Durant and Thompson amongst the big scorers on Wednesday night.
There were a few shocks on the first full night of NBA action on Wednesday, with the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets slipping to surprise defeats on the road.
After making a statement against their Eastern Conference rivals, the Chicago Bulls, on opening night, Miami were unable pick up from where they left off and fell to a 114-110 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rookie star Michael Carter-Williams stole the headlines as he came close to a quadruple double and finished with 22 points, but that wasn’t where the shocks for the night ended.
Following their blockbuster summer which saw the likes of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce arrive from Boston, the Brooklyn Nets got off to a losing start at the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 98-94 defeat.
Brook Lopez top-scored for the visitors with 21, but with six players making it into double figures for the Cavs, they prevailed as they look to make an impression in the East this year.
Elsewhere, the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors sealed victories over the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics respectively, with rookie coach Brad Stevens getting off to a losing start in charge of the latter. Meanwhile over in the Western Conference there were big wins for teams with championship aspirations.
Dwight Howard enjoyed a productive start to life with the Houston Rockets in their 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats as he recorded a career-high tying 26 rebounds as well as 17 points with James Harden and Jeremy Lin also providing good production.
Meanwhile, with the responsibility of scoring resting on his shoulders, Kevin Durant dropped 42 points on the Utah Jazz as he helped the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 101-98 win.
It was perhaps the performance of the night in terms of scoring, but Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and Damian Lillard all enjoyed productive nights for their respective teams, while Kevin Love drained a late-three for the Minnesota Timberwolves as they went on defeat the Orlando Magic in overtime.
The Golden State Warriors are also highly fancied this season, and having conquered the Los Angeles Lakers in a 125-94 win on Wednesday night, they will face the Clippers on Thursday looking to make it two wins in two.
NBA Results: Brooklyn Nets 94-98 Cleveland Cavaliers; Miami Heat 110-114 Philadelphia 76ers; Boston Celtics 87-93 Toronto Raptors; Washington Wizards 102-113 Detroit Pistons; Milwaukee Bucks 83-90 New York Knicks; Charlotte Bobcats 83-96 Houston Rockets;
Orlando Magic 115-120 Minnesota Timberwolves; Indiana Pacers 95-90 New Orleans Pelicans; Atlanta Hawks 109-118 Dallas Mavericks; Memphis Grizzlies 94-101 San Antonio Spurs; Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 Utah Jazz; Portland Trail Blazers 91-104 Phoenix Suns; Denver Nuggets 88-90 Sacramento Kings; Los Angeles Lakers 94-125 Golden State Warriors.
Check out the top 10 plays of the night from Wednesday:
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