NBA: Milwaukee Bucks beat Brooklyn Nets, LA Lakers lose to Golden State Warriors
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the most valuable player in last season's finals, contributed 32 points and 14 rebounds for the Bucks against one of the pre-season favourites. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers lost 121-114 to the Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James scored 34 points, and Anthony Davis added 33 in the defeat.
A sold-out crowd packed into the Fiserv Forum Arena as the Bucks unveiled their championship banner and celebrated their first title win in 50 years before the game.
"It was hard; we all were excited to get the rings and see our banner," Antetokounmpo said.
"It's kind of hard to balance that, to go from that excitement and emotional state to go and play a game.
"But I think we did a great job. We were able to focus on our game plan and ourselves and get a win."
In July, the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to be crowned NBA champions for the first time since 1971.
Kevin Durrant was Brooklyn's top scorer with 32 points, but the Nets were without point guard Kyrie Irving who refuses to get a Covid-19 vaccine.
Nets coach Steve Nash said. "We weren't as sharp as we needed to be, we weren't as physical as we needed to be, we weren't as organised as we needed to be.
"We just didn't play well."
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