by Brandon Richard
Following a near four-month hiatus, the NBA officially tipped off the 2014-15 season on Tuesday night. The new year got underway with three games on the schedule.
In New Orleans, it was the Anthony Davis show. The third-year standout gave the visiting Orlando Magic all they could handle, racking up 26 points, 17 rebounds and 9 blocks in 101-84 Pelicans victory. Recently extended center Nikola Vucevic had 15 points and 23 rebounds for the Magic.
After championship rings were handed out at the AT&T Center, the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks picked up right where they left off in last season's playoffs. Behind big performances from the usual suspects, including clutch play down the stretch by Tony Parker, the Spurs edged their division rivals 101-100. Monta Ellis led the Mavericks with 26 points and 6 assists.
To cap off the night, Dwight Howard returned to Los Angeles, where his Houston Rockets paid a visit to the Lakers at Staples Center. It was whistle-to-whistle domination for the Rockets, who eased by the Lakers 108-90. James Harden came through for Houston with 32 points, while Kobe Bryant dropped 19 in his official regular season return. The big (and sad) news from this game was an injury to Lakers rookie Julius Randle, who unfortunately suffered a broken leg. We here at Sole Collector wish him a speedy recovery.
On the sneaker front, there weren't many surprises for opening night. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined by an eye infection, we didn't see much of his 'Ring Night' Air Jordan 6 PE on the court. Highlights included Howard debuting his latest adidas signature shoe, Davis going back to the original Hyperposite, Manu Ginobili switching from LeBrons to Kobes, Jason Terry's Reebok Kamikaze 2 PE and Patrick Beverley breaking out the D Rose 5 Boost.
See all of the notable sneakers from opening night in this special edition of Sole Watch.
Anthony Davis -- Nike Air Max Hyperposite PE
Elfrid Payton -- Nike Kobe 9 EM
Tony Parker -- PEAK TP9-II
Dirk Nowitzki -- Nike Hyperdunk 2012 PE
Jameer Nelson -- Nike Zoom Run the One
Chandler Parsons -- ANTA Parsons
Manu Ginobili -- Nike Kobe 9 EM
Monta Ellis -- Jordan Super.Fly 3
Tyson Chandler -- Nike Hyperfuse 2014 PE
Tim Duncan -- adidas Crazy Ghost 2014
James Harden -- Nike Zoom Run the One
Kobe Bryant -- Nike Kobe 9 Elite PE
Dwight Howard -- adidas D Howard 5
Julius Randle -- Nike Zoom Soldier 8 PE
Patrick Beverley -- adidas D Rose 5 Boost
Jeremy Lin -- adidas Crazyquick 2 Low PE
Carlos Boozer -- Nike Hyperdunk 2014 PE
Jason Terry -- Reebok Kamikaze 2 PE
Terrence Jones -- Air Jordan 14 Retro 'Ferrari'
images via Derick E. Hingle, Soobum Im Richard Mackson for USA Today Sports, ESPN, AP
