10/31: NBA Opening Night, etc.

Greetings! I'm as shocked as you are to see a "daily"-type post in this space, but here we go...

• The Heat are 1-0. Lebron led the way with 26 and 10, Dwyane Wade (29 points) and Ray Allen (19 points) picked up the scoring load, and Chris Bosh put up a customary 19/10 double-double as Miami beat Boston to begin their title defense. They basically did whatever they wanted to offensively (54% FG, 50% 3-point) and basically ran them out of the gym. Rondo had 20 points and 13 assists to lead Boston. 
• The Lakers?... didn't have so much success. Dallas went on the road, without Dirk, and toppled LA 99-91 last night. The Mavs had 6 guys in double-figures (and nine players with 7+ points) led by 17 from Darren Collison. For me, the loss came down to LA's God-awful free throw shooting (12-31 as a team, 3-14 for Dwight alone) and their unwillingness to let Nash run the offense. It was comical how Mike Brown and company failed to get the ball in Nash's hands and the results were less than desirable as a result. Godspeed to them. 
• In the 3rd (non-national TV) game, Kyrie Irving had 29 points to lead Cleveland to a 94-84 win over Washington. The best line of the night, however? Anderson Varejao, who scored just 9 points, but had a ridiculous twenty-three rebounds and also dropped 9 assists. Don't sleep on Cleveland.
• The Braves picked up three different player options totally about $25 million yesterday. Brian McCann was the most high-profile one at $13 million, and he was really the only one with any question surrounding it. However, it seems like his surgery went well after the season and he's on track for a May return. The internal catcher option really isn't there at this point, and I like the pick-up for McCann. Pencil in Maholm and Hudson into the rotation for next year, and they'll be joined by Medlen, Minor, and either Hanson, Delgado or Teheran (as it stands today).
• MLB released their Gold Glove awards last night. I won't break them all down, but Jason Heyward won his 1st award and it was well-deserved. There were some snubs as always (Michael Bourn, for one) but the most egregious one is Mike Trout. How does that guy not win a gold glove? Come on. 

What to watch for on Wednesday...

• League Pass Free Preview! - The NBA gives us all a free week of league pass, so I'd suggest taking advantage. The best games tonight are: Nuggets @ Sixers (7:00) as a battle of playoff contenders, Rockets @ Pistons (7:00) as the debut of James Harden in Houston, Mavs @ Jazz (9:00) as the foray into my Jazz love affair, and Grizzlies @ Clippers (10:30) for the chance to see Chris Paul and Mike Conley. 

Enjoy!