All Trojans

NBA Opening Night: USC Alumni DeRozan, Vucevic Secure Wins

The 72-game NBA regular season has officially begun, with former USC Trojans DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic getting wins in their season openers.

Austin Grad

The 2020-2021 NBA season is officially underway as 28-of-the-30 teams have played a regular season game after Wednesday's 12-game slate. Two key USC alumni got off to a fast start in game one of 72 in the regular season, leading their teams to victory. While the highly-anticipated debut of the number-six overall pick is on hold for a little while longer. 

Let's dive into how strong play from two key former Trojans led to wins on Wednesday night.

DeMar DeRozan, Shooting Guard, San Antonio Spurs

After missing the playoffs for the first time this century, the San Antonio Spurs led by coach Greg Popovich and star guard DeMar DeRozan came to play in the teams opener against the up and coming Memphis Grizzlies. DeRozan finished with a near triple-double, as he scored 28 points to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists in the Spurs' 131-119 win in Memphis. 

The 31-year old scorer played as efficient as you could hope, shooting 50% from the field as he hit 7-of-14 shot attempts. None of his shots from the floor came from the three-point line, which is rare nowadays from any player that leads his team in scoring, especially from the wing position. Instead, DeRozan was able to drive and force the issue resulting in him taking 15 free throws, as he was able to knock down 14 of them which accounted for half of his points. 

The four-time all-star has never been known for his three-point shooting, and since he's come to San Antonio, he's shot it even less. With the NBA becoming a contest of who can shoot and make the most shots beyond the arc, DeRozan is trending the opposite direction, as he only attempted 0.6 and 0.5 threes per game in his last two seasons. 

Nonetheless, the former USC star has been able to average at least 20 points per game over his last seven seasons, as he's trying to make it eight, as DeMar is off to a great start in his third season with San Antonio.

Nikola Vucevic, Center, Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic had a tough season-opener against the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Miami Heat. Although Vucevic didn't play up to his standards, he still was able to notch a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the team's 113-107 win. 

[Read: USC Finishes Number One in the PAC-12 in Pass Offense]

Vucevic is normally a pretty good shooter, but he struggled from the floor and from the charity stripe. The 30-year-old center shot 5-for-13, including 2-of-8 from the line. He's a career 74% free-throw shooter, so his six misses against Miami may just be a result of rust of lack of practice due to COVID-19. He did shoot well from three-point range, connecting on three of his five attempts from deep, including this triple that gave the Magic a two-point lead late in the 4th quarter.

This was the 9th straight year that Vucevic has been in the starting lineup for the Magic on opening night, tying Nick Anderson for the most all-time in Orlando history. The former all-star will look to improve his stroke when the Magic play the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

Onyeka Okongwu, Center, Atlanta Hawks

The number six overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft Onyeka Okongwu did not suit up for the Atlanta Hawks in their season opener against the Chicago Bulls due to a foot injury he has been nursing back to health. 

Nonetheless, his team destroyed the Bulls in a 124-104 win on Wednesday. Currently there is no timetable in place as to when Okongwu will make his NBA debut.

[Read: Okongwu Out For Hawks Season Opener]

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