After a 133-day hiatus, it’s finally here again! We missed NBA basketball dearly.

The games over the next week are just warm-ups for the official restart on July 31st, and played under a modified clock (10 minutes per quarter), but with no live, competitive action in over four months, I’m sure all of us hoop freaks are hyped.

Scrimmage Game #1: LA Clippers 99, Orlando Magic 90

The first game featured a battle between the “hometown” Orlando Magic and the mighty, championship-contending LA Clippers.

The opening quarter ended with the Magic holding a five-point lead, 26-21, but the Clipps were able to turn on the jets in the second quarter and never looked back. They won the period 32-16, and had Orlando play catch-up until the final buzzer.

Lou Williams had the hot hand and he registered game-high 22 points, while Paul George followed suit by adding 18. Kawhi Leonard, meanwhile, tallied nine points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 19 minutes of action.

Key guys Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley were absent as they are both attending to personal matters.

The Magic tried to rely on their outside shots despite being ice cold all game long. They finished with a dreadful 5-for-28 shooting from three.

All-Star Nikola Jokic punched in a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards, while back-up point guard Michael Carter-Williams surprised by scoring 16 points in just 18 minutes.

Scrimmage Game #2: Denver Nuggets 89, Washington Wizards 82

Following the hyped up opening game is a meeting between two teams on the opposite sides of the spectrum – the Denver Nuggets, who have one the most well-rounded rosters in the league, and the Washington Wizards, who are so depleted, they might as well bow out right now.

Nevertheless, it became an exciting contest right from the get-go thanks to the Nuggets. They have every one talking as they paraded a gigantic starting five, like really, really gigantic.

That’s not an error on the broadcast team. Mike Malone and his staff really started the seven-foot, natural center Nikola Jokic at point guard. And yes, rookie fan favorite Bol Bol debuted after a lengthy injury – he, too, is a towering figure at 7’2.

The two giants starred for Denver, with Jokic showing off usual all-around numbers – 16 points, seven boards, and seven assists, and Bol having quite the first impression – a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, and a whopping six blocks. He was so good, he was subjected to a random drug test after the game.

Over the Wizards’ side, rookie Rui Hachimura had 18 points and nine rebounds. Troy Brown Jr. stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six boards, five assists, and three steals.

Scrimmage Game #3: New Orleans Pelicans 99, Brooklyn Nets 68

On to the third game on the schedule, where it turned out to be the most one-sided among all four.

The New Orleans Pelicans and their fast-paced attack simply trounced the wounded Brooklyn Nets – the Nets, as you now, will be without four rotation players for the remainder of the season (Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Taurean Prince). Kevin Durant, who’s still rehabbing his torn achilles, won’t play until next season as well.

The Pelicans used a 33-point second quarter to pull away, but their defense also looked good. They held the Nets to just 35.2% shooting, and just 14 points each in the first and fourth period.

Pels All-Star Brandon Ingram played efficient in limited action, tallying 12 points in just 11 minutes. Bench guys E’Twaun Moore and rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker each chipped in 14 points off the bench to share game-high honors in scoring.

Dzanan Musa led all Net scorers with 11. Caris Levert, Jarrett Allen, and Rodions Kurucs, meanwhile, had 10 points apiece.

Scrimmage Game #4: Miami Heat 104, Sacramento Kings 98

The first day of scrimmage ended with a match-up between the Miami Heat and the Sacramento Kings. It had a low-key feel of a classic shootout as the Heat are the number one-ranked three-point shooting team in the league, and the Kings had Buddy Hield, the reigning three-point shooting champion.

The Heat were in control for almost the entire game but the back-and-forth in threes didn’t disappoint. The two squads weren’t shy in hoisting it too, and by game’s end, they had combined to go 25-for-72 from downtown.

As per usual, Miami exemplified team-oriented ball. Five Heat players scored in double figures, as led by sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, who had 18 and went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc – Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, Andre Iguodala, and Kelly Olynyk were the other four top scorers. All-Star Jimmy Butler had nine points in 11 minutes of play.

Miami’s other All-Star, Bam Adebayo, is still fresh-off arriving in the Disney bubble and elected to sit out the scrimmage.

As always, the Kings were led by Hield, whose 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting topped all scorers. Nemanja Bjelica and Kent Bazemore added 13 and 11 points respectively. Seldom-used rookie Daquan Jeffries also had a productive outing as he chipped in 12 points.

The Kings’ loss featured a solid shooting night (51.5%) that was basically cancelled out by turning the ball over 18 times.