Six NBA teams lose their openers by 20 or more points on the same night, a league first

Phoenix lost by 41, Miami and Sacramento by 25, Golden State by 22 and Utah by 20 on Wednesday, along with a 43-point loss in Toronto. Houston's 18-point win over Dallas just missed the list despite a 70-38 halftime lead.

Six NBA teams lost their season openers by 20 or more points on Wednesday night, and OptaSTATS said it was the first time in NBA history that six different teams did that in the same season. All six came on Wednesday's 11-game slate.

OptaSTATS: Six teams lose openers by 20 or more

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The six losses, per the ESPN scoreboard:

Raptors 135, Bulls 92 (43 points). Kawhi Leonard scored 23 in his first game back with Toronto.
Trail Blazers 124, Suns 83 (41). Portland opened on a 21-0 run behind Damian Lillard's return and led by as many as 52.
Timberwolves 131, Heat 106 (25). Anthony Edwards scored 45, which buried a 35-point Heat debut from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Clippers 121, Kings 96 (25). Darius Garland scored 30, and the Clippers never trailed.
Lakers 127, Warriors 105 (22). Walker Kessler went 12 for 12, and Luka Doncic sat the fourth quarter.
Grizzlies 123, Jazz 103 (20). Ty Jerome scored a career-high 45.

The list could have been seven. Marc Stein noted that the game he attended, Houston's win over Dallas, had a 70-38 halftime score and still missed the cutoff. The Mavericks cut it to 17 in the fourth quarter and lost 128-110.

Record six teams lost openers by 20 or more

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Phoenix shot 30 of 84 and went 6 of 31 from 3 in Portland. Golden State went 8 of 36 from deep while missing Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody to long-term injuries. Sacramento made 8 of 28 3-pointers. Miami lost by 25 at home despite 35 points from Antetokounmpo.

Three of the six get another try Friday. Golden State hosts Memphis, Sacramento hosts Portland, and Utah hosts New Orleans.

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