LIVE: Simmons stars in new role; Giddey's big Bulls debut as NBA ...

Aussies Josh Giddey, Ben Simmons and Dyson Daniels make their season debuts as part of the NBA’s Thursday schedule (all times AEDT).

The second day of the NBA schedule will see Giddey make his debut for the Chicago Bulls as the team’s new starting point guard when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans.

It comes after Giddey’s trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the off-season, now set to play a larger role for the Bulls as they move into a new era.

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Meanwhile Simmons and Daniels, who’ll play his first game for Atlanta, when the Brooklyn Nets and Hawks square off.

Josh Green won’t be available to make his debut for the Charlotte Hornets against the Houston Rockets due to sore Achilles issue.

Other big games on Thursday include the Milwaukee Bucks facing the Philadelphia 76ers, though Joel Embiid, Paul George and Khris Middleton are all out, and the Orlando Magic meeting the Miami Heat.

The Golden State Warriors (playing Portland Trail Blazers) and Phoenix Suns (playing LA Clippers) will also be in action later.

Read on for the latest updates from today’s NBA action!

We have a full NBA schedule on Thursday.Source: FOX SPORTS

SIMMONS STARS EARLY IN NEW ROLE, DYSON IMPRESSES FOR HAWKS

Simmons and Daniels faced off on Thursday morning as the Atlanta Hawks hosted the Brooklyn Nets at State Farm Arena in their season opener.

Simmons started for the Nets at center, with first-choice big man Nic Claxton on a minutes restriction after missing all four of Brooklyn’s preseason games due to a hamstring injury.

“You can’t go from zero to 100. It wouldn’t make sense that he hasn’t played and now all of the sudden I play him 35 minutes,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez told reporters pre-game.

The Claxton injury allowed Brooklyn to experiment with Simmons in the point center role during the preseason and the three-time All-Star looked much more comfortable, although he will likely become either the starting or back-up point guard once Claxton is ready to start again.

Meanwhile, Daniels started at shooting guard as Atlanta’s official replacement for Dejounte Murray after he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in the offseason.

It was a forgettable start for Simmons, who turned the ball over on his first possession, with Daniels showing off his improved shot with a 3-pointer on the other end for Atlanta.

But outside of that one blemish it was otherwise an impressive opening stint for Simmons, who looked aggressive in driving to the rim and composed facilitating what was a five-out offence with the Australian playing at the five.

First, he hustled to save a possession for Brooklyn and then dished it off to a cutting Cam Johnson for the slam before driving to the rim himself and laying it in.

His best play of the quarter though came as Simmons pushed the pace in transition off a Daniels miss, going right at Clint Capela and using his physicality to finish at the rim.

There were still flashes of the elite playmaking, including behind the back passes, but most promising was the way Simmons did not hesitate to get into the paint early and often.

In turn, it only opened up space for the Nets in the halfcourt, which was an obvious advantage of playing Simmons at the five with plenty of shooting around him.

As for Daniels, he also had a very solid first quarter, draining that early 3-pointer and then adding a putback while playing strong all-round defence.

The Hawks led 13-4 early but the Nets were able to work their way back to 17-15 before both Simmons and Daniels checked out with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Simmons had four points, three rebounds, three assists, a block and a pair of turnovers, exiting the game when Claxton entered, while Daniels had five points and a rebound.

The Hawks led 30-24 after the first quarter.

Ben Simmons impressed for the Hawks. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Simmons picked up where he left off when he entered the game in the second quarter, assisting on two-straight 3-pointers while also crashing the glass for defensive rebounds.

It was nearly three in a row as Simmons stormed down the court in transition and quickly dished it out to Jalen Wilson in the corner but his shot rimmed out.

It was another near-miss soon after as Simmons cut towards the rim and couldn’t quite get the finish, but nonetheless it was yet again a promising sign for his attack-first mentality.

Thomas later connected with Simmons for the alley-oop lay-in before the Australian checked out again, with Schroder coming in and the Nets ahead 43-42.

Daniels entered the game shortly after Simmons was substituted in earlier in the second quarter and while he wasn’t having the same impact on offence, he was predictably proving a menace on the defensive end, picking up Thomas full-court.

Brooklyn took a 53-50 lead into halftime.