THE NBA nation was greeted to a Merry Christmas on Sunday as the 2011-2012 NBA season kicked off as scheduled. The day featured five anticipating encounters that has given early indication as to what is to be expected of the franchises this season.

The first game of the season featured the New York Knicks welcoming the Boston Celtics to the Madison Square Gardens. Filled with patches of inconsistency, Celtics fans would have been hoping that after outscoring the Knicks 35-17 in the third quarter the game would have been an easy stroke in the win column, however, they did not account for the will power of Carmelo Anthony. Melo scored 17 of his 37 points in the final quarter of the game to guide his team to a 106-104 win over the Celtics who notably were playing without an injured Paul Pierce.

Up next were the defending champions the Dallas Mavericks playing hosts to the team they brushed aside in the finals, the Miami Heat. If it was not insult enough for them to be opening against the team that conquered them, they had to watch on as the Mavs hoisted their championship banner.

That must have fuelled the flames of desire for the Heat as they dominated the champions from start to finish. The man ridiculed during the entire six-game finale that year LeBron James did much to silence his doubters as he scored 37 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and six assists. Though the final score was 105-94 this was nothing close to the actual game play as the Heat lead by over 30 at a point in the game and it was not until the final quarter when the starters were rested that the Mavs cut the lead. In fact the Mavs outscored the Heat by 21 points in the final quarter and still lost by double digits.

It will forever be said that trading Lamar Odom is the worst decision that the Los Angeles Lakers made this season and his absence was shown on Sunday as the Lakers hosted the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are not known for their efficient bench but Odom's absence seemed to have levelled the playing field as gritty play by the Bulls kept them hanging around.

With 54 seconds to go the Lakers were up 87-81 and with their reputation one would certainly expect that that was it, however, the Bulls, led by last season's MVP Derrick Rose, rallied with a 7-0 run to clinch victory 88-87. The usually reliable Kobe Bryant had his last-ditched shot blocked in a game that overall was sub-standard by Lakers standards.

The Oklahoma City Thunder welcomed the Orlando Magic to their arena and handed them a decisive beating to send them on their way. Back-to-back scoring champion Kevin Durant started the season on a fine note as he contributed 30 points to the 97-89 win while grabbing six rebounds.

To cap of the opening night, former NBA analyst Mark Jackson — now coaching the Golden State Warriors — had to face the revamped Los Angeles Clippers with Chris Paul and the immensely talented Blake Griffin in his debut game. Though holding their own in the first half, the GS Warriors were outscored by 21 points in the second as Griffin with 22 points and Paul with nine assists led their team to claim an all-important 105-86 opening-day victory.

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