Warriors beat Lakers behind Jimmy Butler's 31 points; Thunder outlast Rockets in double overtime

Jimmy Butler led the Golden State Warriors to a road win over the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night while the Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the Houston Rockets on opening night.

The new NBA season began with an instant classic that came down to the wire — over and over again.

The Golden State Warriors, meanwhile, ensured that the second game of the NBA opening-night doubleheader wasn’t nearly as dramatic.

On the first night of NBA games broadcast on NBC since 2002, the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Houston Rockets in double overtime, 125-124, before the Warriors later comfortably dispatched the LeBron James-less Lakers, 119-109, in Los Angeles.

In his first game with Houston since an offseason trade, Kevin Durant scored 23 points against his former team before fouling out. Alperun Sengun led Houston with 39 points in a back-and-forth game that extended to two overtimes thanks to the shot-making heroics of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who followed up last season’s Most Valuable Player campaign with 35 points.

In Los Angeles, the Lakers and Warriors combined for 39 turnovers in a sloppy opener that was played as James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, watched from the sideline due to sciatica that could keep him out for several more weeks. Luka Dončić scored 43 points for the Lakers to compensate, but when the Warriors extended a one-point halftime lead to 17 in the second half, it was because of star wing Jimmy Butler. Butler, who scored 31 points, made all 16 of his free throws, two shy of Rick Barry’s franchise record for most free throws made without a miss.