Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Lakers kicked off NBA’s preseason schedule on Sunday, though did so largely without their biggest names in the Nets’ 123-97 victory.

While on one side there was LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, on the other bench were Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. You won’t see a better collection of benchwarmers in an NBA preseason game this season.

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Anthony Davis opened the scoring for the Lakers and made the first basket of the preseason. But James, Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony will all have to wait for at least one more game before getting starts.

Brooklyn was without its Big Three, as well as starters Blake Griffin and Joe Harris, and newcomers Patty Mills and James Johnson, who all missed the game.

Davis contributed six points in the first quarter.

LaMarcus Aldridge made his Nets debut after returning to the organisation after retiring last season due to an abnormal heartbeat. In 15 minutes, he scored six points.

Cam Thomas, a rookie, led the Nets with 21 points. Bruce Brown scored 12 points and ten boards, while veteran Paul Millsap, who joined the club in the offseason, had ten points and ten rebounds.

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In his debut game with the Lakers, Malik Monk scored 15 points. In the fourth quarter, Brooklyn outscored Los Angeles 39-16.

Both clubs are among the NBA’s top contenders, thanks to their impressive rosters. They’ll meet again on the same Staples Center court as the Christmas season’s highlight, and it’ll be broadcast on national television many times.

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Both teams struggled in the postseason due to injury. With Irving out and Harden still hampered by a hamstring ailment that lost him a couple of games in the series, the Nets were defeated by eventual champion Milwaukee in the second round. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round by Phoenix, with Davis playing only five minutes of the decider after missing the whole fifth game due to a groyne ailment.

That’s probably why Nets coach Steve Nash and Lakers coach Frank Vogel — whose club was in the NBA Finals just a year ago at this time — decided to hold off on playing their best players until after training camps started on Tuesday.

Most teams will begin Monday on a nine-game night.  

With inputs from the Associated Press