The NBA Opening Night is all fun and games as the league trots out some marquee names, the Knicks and/or Lakers and then two teams that everybody should be watching except they’re not because they’re small markets.

Then, they slap you with a full slate of games the next night and everybody remembers how fast Twitter moves, how hard it is to absorb game action on the fly, and by the end of it all you’re swimming in overreactions. Tonight’s action was different in that there were so many big lines and so many easy defensive matchups that the some guys like Myles Turner will be overshadowed, and one won’t likely see the C.J. McCollum effect where people were trading him for early round picks because of the early celebrations.

Still, you’re seeing and will always continue to see sites and owners declaring victory after 1-of-82 games and it is ripe time for swindling in the trade markets. In the meantime, let’s go back to the old school and do a Bruski Breakdown to kick the season off right.

ARE YOU WORTH IT? JUSUF NURKIC

The Nuggets game was among the most talked about from a fantasy perspective because Jusuf Nurkic (23 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one block, 26 minutes) was going off, Nikola Jokic (five points, seven boards, two assist, one three, four turnovers, 21 minutes) was not, and then Michael Malone went away from Nurkic for a surging Kenneth Faried (nine points, 14 rebounds, two steals, 28 minutes).

A couple of things here. Faried is on the trade block so anytime he’s playing well you bet he’s going to get minutes. Second – if this game happens in February nobody gives a shit. Don’t freak out about Jokic and send me those trade offers. Malone has been known to ride a hot hand and Jokic is too good to see his minutes dip on a long-term basis.

Will Barton started for Gary Harris (groin) and scored 22 points with five rebounds, two assists and two treys. He’s another guy that is going to get his while he can and Malone is probably good with that. The two have probably already sat down and talked about how it might be hard to get Barton his minutes, and this is also another asset that the Nuggets can showcase while they have Harris out.

59 MORE OF THESE AND IT WON’T MATTER IF HE MISSES 22 GAMES

There’s talk on the Internet about Anthony Davis’ stat line from last night being the best ever. I’m not enough of a historian to know if Wilt Chamberlain’s lines would have held up, but Davis’ 50 points on 17-of-34 shooting (16-of-17 FTs) with 16 rebounds, five assists, seven steals and four blocks are the fifth dimension. He fell to me at No. 11 in 30-DEEP. Eleven. I will be happy to have him at No. 6 in my B150 because a lot of folks panicked there. Yes, he has to stay healthy, but I’ll refer you back to the numbers above.

Tim Frazier went for 15 points, five boards, 11 assists, two steals and one trey in his 37 minutes. We saw this type of stuff going on last year and nobody should be surprised. He’ll be an interesting piece for the Pelicans and I could see them becoming Miami West with all their small lineups and smaller players getting big minutes.

Solomon Hill scored two points with one rebound, one assist, one steal and 1-of-7 shooting. We’re going to blame it on Anthony Davis and pretend nobody saw it. Terrence Jones was behind Alexis Ajinca in the early rotation and finished with six points, three rebounds and three assists in his 18 minutes, but keep in mind that the Nuggets have the twin towers so that’s pretty irregular. Either way, nobody should be making big judgments after Game 1.

THUNDER MOVING FORWARD

The Thunder will take crap for this win because the lowly Sixers (who are nowhere near as bad as they once were) took them to the edge. The Sixers arena, known for being quiet, was rocking and Joel Embiid had the crowd rolling with each play – so the Thunder got rattled at times.

Victor Oladipo was held to just 26 minutes after hitting only 4-of-16 shots for 10 points, five boards, one assist and one block. It’s an interesting footnote that Billy Donovan has some sort of limit to what he can see in terms of bad play, but nobody should be making a move to change his valuation here.

Russell Westbrook scored 32 points with 12 boards, nine assists, one three, 9-of-11 hits from the line and no defensive stats. Nothing to report there – and the defensive goose egg takes some luster off this line. Domantas Sabonis started but had just five points and four blocks, and he’ll need to do some quick damage to keep his ownership up.

TRUST THE PROCESS

There was a lot going on for B150 owners in this game as Dario Saric started and logged 27 minutes, hitting just 2-of-12 shots for five points, seven rebounds and two assists. He goose-egged the defensive stats and that concern had me drop him about two rounds late in the preseason, but nonetheless I had him as a solid mid-round guy this season and a ton of you guys drafted him in the late rounds.

Some of you might be thinking Meyers Leonard but he’s way more skilled than that and Philly will rely on him all season long. He’s a rookie even if he’s a pretty experienced rookie, so expect him to improve with time. And no you’re not dropping him.

Robert Covington also looked like a big cog as he put up 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block and two treys in 32 minutes.

Of course, Joel Embiid was worth the price of admission with his 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting (1-of-3 3PTs, 7-of-8 FTs) to go with seven boards, two assists and four blocks. He has no conscience when it comes to taking charge on the offensive end, shooting threes or anything really. He’ll fit the town of Philly very well and he’ll be productive when on the floor, but we’re all sort of blindly forgetting about the two missed seasons. He’s a classic gamble and that’s the only way one can look at him.

Jahlil Okafor scored eight points with three boards in 16 minutes as he returned from his knee injury and he looked alright in those minutes.

Sergio Rodriguez (12 points, four rebounds, nine assists, two threes) edged out T.J. McConnell (16 minutes, zero points, two rebounds, seven assists, two steals) but they’re still both late-round guys for the time-being. There was a point in time when McConnell came in for his normal rotation and was immediately subbed out when it became clear that Russell Westbrook was going to snap him in half. Expect a closer minute distribution in the next game and if not, then maybe Rodriguez does have a grasp on the starter’s minutes.

ROCKET MAN

Last night’s Rockets/Lakers game was your classic no-defense, James Harden is going to make his early case for MVP game. He scored 34 points on 9-of-19 shooting (1-of-7 3PTs, 15-of-16 FTs) with eight rebounds, 17 assists, one steal and seven turnovers. At some point the crap basketball will catch up to him and these numbers are coming back to Earth, and they’re not playing the Lakers every night. Unless you’re getting Stephen Curry back, I just can’t see entertaining a trade of Harden even if the perception of his production is ridiculous and inflated.

Eric Gordon (19 points, five boards, two threes) and Ryan Anderson (14 points, two threes, six boards, two steals) didn’t really get to join the fun, and Trevor Ariza (five points, six rebounds, two steals, one three) will bounce back soon enough. Clint Capela (16 points, nine rebounds, one block) shirked off Montrezl Harrell (DNP) concerns and he’s a fine late-round guy with mid-round upside.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

The Lakers ended up victorious in this slop-fest when it was all said and done. Julius Randle scored 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds, six assists and one block, Nick Young (eight points, 27 minutes) started next to D’Angelo Russell (20 points, four threes, three boards, one steal) and nobody killed each other, and Jordan Clarkson had some funny-looking celebrations as he chipped in 25 points, three rebounds, three steals, two threes and a perfect seven freebies off the bench.

Even Timofey Mozgov got into the act with 12 and eight in 22 minutes. Russell and Clarkson will keep things going and I’m not as much of a hater on Randle as the rest of the fantasy public is, but you almost have to think they should have done better against this horrific Rockets defense.