But knocked out of rhythm by the fouls, the Blazers giant never got in any flow. He then seemed to lose focus, twice throwing bad passes out of the post for turnovers late in the contest.

"Not good," a glum Oden said when asked to grade his performance. "I just have to come in and play harder. Be able to get in a groove. I couldn't get into it tonight. ... I was making turnovers. It was me. I just have to get my head in the game."

Durant didn't fare much better. Before he took the floor, new Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said he told his 19-year-old star to go out and have a good time. "Nobody remembers what LeBron [James] or [Tim] Duncan or David Robinson did in their first game," the coach said.

Maybe not.

But Durant will probably never forget his first-ever field goal attempt. It came early in the first quarter when he spun in against two defenders and floated in for a lefty layup only to have Mavs' 7-footer DeSagana Diop swat it into the Sonics' bench. He then missed badly on a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and another left-handed layup after a nice spin move. He wound up the first quarter 0-for-5 from the floor.

To Durant's credit, he didn't let the early struggles overwhelm him. He finally got on the board in the second quarter when he sank a silky fadeaway 15-footer from the baseline, then proceeded to put smaller Mavs guard Eddie Basden in a blender for a couple easy baskets. He flashed some dazzling moves and wound up with nine free throw attempts ("I liked that a lot," Carlesimo said), hitting seven.

"It was much more intense, way more faster than college game," said Durant, admitting to a case of early nerves. "It was first game. I thought I did OK. I could have shot ball a lot better. Hopefully I will next game."

As for his being on the receiving end of a Diop facial, Durant shrugged it off. "Everybody gets their shot blocked," he said. "This is the NBA. I can't get down on myself ... it was a great block. I thought I was clear for the layup and he came over and blocked it."

Durant probably felt better after watching Yi suffer the same fate while trying to block Memphis second-year forward Alexander Johnson in the opening minute of his team's game against the Grizzlies. The 6-9 Johnson threw down a one-handed windmill jam while drawing the foul on Yi as the Grizzlies bench erupted and the crowd oohed. Yi, who proceeded to rack up three more fouls in barely over a minute, seemed like he was in for a long night.

Instead, Yi bounced back with a strong all-around performance that featured some silky outside shooting and some big-time plays in the paint. At one point the 7-footer ran down the court, caught a pass down low in traffic and went up for a monster two-handed jam in Rudy Gay's mug. Gay got his revenge a few minutes later when he crammed home a dunk in Yi's face and howled in delight -- drawing a technical -- but Yi at least showed he could hold his own in an NBA battle with a high-flyer.

Yi's performance also had to provide some comfort for Bucks GM Larry Harris watching from the stands. At least he now has a sense of what his prize draft pick can do on the court. The question is whether he will be doing it in Brew Town.

But all that was secondary on Friday night. This was a night to welcome some of the NBA's top rookies, and to let them get their feet wet. As Carlesimo said, "It's one game ... the start of a long process."

Oden, Durant and Yi surely wouldn't disagree. They will take their lessons and move on. Welcome to the NBA, young fellas.