Bristol picked up their first-ever win in the top flight, City of Birmingham grabbed a statement victory off Reading and Derby's title defence got back on track in Worthing.
We take a look back at all the weekend's action below, with links to live stats at the bottom of the page.
Birmingham showed the rest of the league they mean business this weekend as they knocked off much-fancied Reading Rockets 63-59.
The low-scoring affair went the way of CoB thanks in part to a pair of 13-point performances by standouts Zach Powell and Orlan Jackman.
Former Reading man Powell added 10 rebounds and three assists to his haul, with Jackman adding 11 and three for a similar stat line.
More importantly for the hosts, they excelled at limiting the damage done by their opponents strong core of guards, with Mitch Clarke (3/15 FG, 8pts) and Victor Olarerin (5/11 FG, 13pts) in particular both being kept in check.
That left another Reading guard, Zain Poorman, to excel, with a closing stat line of 12 points, 11 boards, six assists and four steals. Simon Chamberlain also chipped in 10 points off the bench.
Held to an uncharacteristic 37% shooting from the field, Reading doubled down on defence themselves and limited CoB to just 30%, instead coming undone at the foul line. Reading shot just 3/10 from the charity stripe whilst their opponents netted 17/21, making a big difference in a tight contest.
Given their struggles in 2023/24, a starting schedule of away to Essex and home to Reading, two top-four teams from a year ago, was no doubt a daunting one for CoB. To have navigated both games with a pair of wins will be a huge boost for the season ahead, with the Rockets now awaiting a visit from the 0-2 Worthing Thunder next weekend for a chance to make it three wins in a row.
Reading will be disappointed with this bump in the road and face a trip to Essex next weekend for what is sure to be a great match up for NBL fans.
.
Newcastle Knights (0-2) couldn't recover from a 35-18 third quarter as they fell 109-81 to Hemel Storm (2-0).
Each of the Hemel starters scored 13 or more across a 52% shooting afternoon, led by 18 points from Tra'Michael Moton, but it was Veron Eze's 24 points from the Storm bench that would pace all Hemel scorers to cancel out 28 points from Newcastle's Ronald Blain.
Bristol Hurricanes (1-0) enjoyed their first taste of D1M action, seeing off Loughborough Riders (1-1) 79-66 to win their home opener.
Dan Edozie put in a captain's performance for the hosts, putting together a 24-point, 13-rebound outing as team mate Sol Rolls-Tyson (11pts, 10reb, 6ast) also joined him in the double-double column.
Michael Joiner (23pts, 13reb) excelled for the Riders, though the visitors shot just 29% from the field across an afternoon to forget.
Reigning Player of the Week Adrian Scarborough showed no signs of slowing down as he helped Milton Keynes Breakers (2-0) to down Bradford Dragons (0-2) 123-78.
Scarborough (18pts, 14reb) put together another double-double effort but was outshone by team mate Nate Robinson who dropped a stunning 43 points that included nine triples.
Thames Valley Cavaliers (1-1) picked up their first win of the season as they topped Nottingham Hoods (1-1) 91-78.
TVC led for the majority of the contest and once their advantage passed into double digits early in the second half it never came back down past that point.
Justin Robinson (25pts, 5/6 3pt) did his bit for the hosts, with Greg Skoric (28pts, 11reb) leading the way for the Hoods.
Saturday's only other game featured an incredible landmark for veteran Bode Adeluola as he became the only player in NBL history to pass the 4,000 points mark.
Sadly the personal accolade wouldn't translate to team success as Derby Trailblazers (1-1) beat Worthing Thunder (0-2) 100-74, getting their title defence up and running in the process.
Leighton Elliott-Sewell's 31-point, seven rebound effort was key to the Derby cause, with Elijah Maynard (18pts, 12reb) being kept under wraps following his 46-point effort the week prior.
2pm - Newcastle Knights 81-109 Hemel Storm - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM
5:30pm - Bristol Hurricanes 79-66 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM
6:15pm - Bradford Dragons 78-123 Milton Keynes Breakers - LIVE STATS
6:30pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 91-78 Nottingham Hoods - LIVE STATS
7:30pm - Worthing Thunder 74-100 Derby Trailblazers - LIVE STATS
7:30pm - City of Birmingham Rockets 63-59 Reading Rockets - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM
.
Main image credit - Nicola C Creative
