PORTLAND, Ore. -- Gary Payton II and Kyle Anderson crouched at the scorer's table with three minutes left in the first quarter of the Golden State Warriors' season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

Just nine minutes into the game, the Warriors' 10th and 11th men were about to check in. By the start of the second quarter, Moses Moody was in, meaning 12 players had seen the floor.

Throughout training camp, the Warriors had boasted about their depth. Warriors coach Steve Kerr repeatedly said there were 13 players he thought deserved rotational minutes and stressed the difficult decisions he would have to make to shrink his rotation.

But the night before the team's opener, Kerr decided not to limit the number of players.

"This is as deep of a team as I've ever coached, and we've got to lean into that," Kerr said after the Warriors' 139-104 win. "I've never played 12 before, but we're going to do it.

"I was thinking, well, maybe I'll just play 10 and we'll have to tell two of these guys that they're going to sit. But I just couldn't justify that."

Golden State started a lineup of Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, a group Kerr said he'd like to be the starting five this season.

Buddy Hield was the first off the bench, followed by Kevon Looney and Brandin Podziemski. Next were Melton and Anderson and then Moody.

"It's the identity of this team right now," Curry said. "We're going to rely on our depth."

Curry said the only team he could think of that had comparable depth was the 2014-15 Warriors, whose slogan was "strength in numbers." But even that team had just an 11-man rotation.

"This is the deepest team I've ever been on," Wiggins said.

On Wednesday, seven players scored in double figures, led by Hield's 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including five 3-pointers, in 15 minutes. That's the most points scored by a Warriors player in 15 or fewer minutes since 1984, according to ESPN Research.

"Without Klay, we needed shooting. Well, we needed shooting anyways," Curry said. "We know what his skillset is. We know what he's capable of doing. It's been a very seamless transition so far.

Wiggins added 20 points, and Curry nearly reached a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.

The Warriors made 20 3-pointers, and no player surpassed Curry's team-high 25 minutes.

As the Warriors emphasize playing with a quick pace -- they scored 30 points in transition against Portland -- they believe their depth and ability to do an almost hockey-style rotation will allow them to be "overwhelming" for opponents. Hield called it a continuous "wave" of players.

On some nights, the rotation might shrink depending on the matchup. And there's also an understanding that on nights when one player doesn't have it, they will move down the bench.

"You have to have a commitment -- no agendas, no egos, or healthy egos, where you know you're supposed to be out there but if it's not you're night, don't bring the team down with your energy," Curry said. "Haven't seen any red flags of that."

Curry defined having a healthy ego as always maintaining the belief that you are an impactful player but having enough humility to know when it's not your night and, most importantly, not letting that affect your attitude. The Warriors believe there has been a mutual understanding of this since the team set out to Hawai'i for training camp at the start of the month, when Kerr said there would be healthy competition for playing time.

At the time, he hoped that competition would breed their identity. For now, it has.

Stockdale also relishes the "good competition" he shares with New Zealand-born Lowe, who has won 33 caps having made his Ireland debut in November 2020.

"You'd probably love me to say 'no, I hate him!' but no, I really like Lowey," said Stockdale.

"He's a great fella and someone I bounce off a lot. We have a good bit of craic together.

"Don't get me wrong, we get competitive at times and it's good fun and I'll always love playing against him because he's physical and he's a challenge at times to defend. I love Lowey and there's good competition between the two of us."

Stockdale once again has the opportunity to impress Farrell, who will take a sabbatical from his Ireland duties to focus on leading the British and Irish Lions on next year's tour of Australia.

And while Stockdale currently considers himself an "unlikely shout" for Lions selection, he hopes that continuing his fine form will push him further into the conversation.

"It kind of feels like Lions years are always a year when anything can happen," he added.

"Lions selection, a lot of it is based on the November series and Six Nations before the tour. There's maybe a handful of players who will get selected on what they've done over the past two or three years, but the majority of the squad will be selected based on what they do in the months leading up to the tour.

"I'm a pretty unlikely shout right now but if I keep playing the way I've been trying to play at the moment then we'll see what happens."

South Africa 307 need 106 runs to win vs Bangladesh 106 and 307 (Mehidy 97, Jaker 40, Rabada 6-46, Maharaj 3-105)

South Africa will need 106 runs to win the first Test against Bangladesh after bowling their hosts out for 307 in Mirpur. South Africa took the remaining three wickets in 4.5 overs on the opening morning and inside the first half an hour of play. Bangladesh added 24 runs to their overnight score as Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the last to fall, three short of a second Test century.

Bad light called an early end to play on day three, with South Africa opting to use spinners with the old ball instead of taking a new one, but they had it available as soon as play began. Kagiso Rabada opened proceedings with almost immediate success. His third ball seamed in to Nayeem Hasan and struck him on the front pad to give Rabada a 15th Test five-for. The match has been memorable for Rabada, as he also took his 300th wicket.

Mehidy moved into the nineties with a boundary off Wiaan Mulder but was tested to Rabada, who teased the outside edge and induced an aerial flick that was dropped by Tony de Zorzi. Bangladesh's 300 came up when Taijul Islam hit Wiaan Mulder through gully but his fun didn't last long. Two balls later, he feathered one to second slip to leave Mehidy with the last batter. He was in a rush to get to his hundred and was on 97, when he tried to to ramp Rabada but the length was not quite right and he sent a catch to slip instead. Rabada finished with 6 for 46.

South Africa went into the contest with just four bowling options and stand-in captain Aiden Markram chose not to use himself and on a surface that became better for batting may have been concerned about their resources. On a pitch with bounce and plenty of spin, they were looking to restrict the target to under 100 and having just eked over, Bangladesh will feel they have something to defend.

ATLANTA -- For Zaccharie Risacher, it was the perfect start to an NBA career of such promise.

A wide-open look from outside the 3-point stripe.

Nothing but net.

But the French teenager quickly learned what a steep learning curve he faces in his rookie season with the Atlanta Hawks.

Risacher, the league's No. 1 draft pick, missed his next six shots and finished the night with just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Still, he was all smiles after the Hawks held on against the Brooklyn Nets for a 120-116 victory in the season opener Wednesday.

"It was amazing," Risacher said. "That's a dream come true. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad we won and on to the next one. I can't wait to play another game in two days. That's gonna be fun. Just try to keep winning, you know."

The slender, 19-year-old forward made his debut with 3:43 left in the first quarter, drawing a big cheer from the sellout crowd at State Farm Arena. While the Hawks are in a bit of a rebuilding mode, they're counting on Risacher to help take the franchise to heights it has rarely experienced in Atlanta.

"It was definitely a special moment," he said. "I'm super happy to be here and I can feel around me the joy and good vibes. I'm super grateful to be a part of this organization, this city."

The cheers grew even louder when Risacher knocked down a 3 with the first shot of his career.

"That was like the perfect situation," he said. "I was open on the transition pass and, yeah, it was amazing. The perfect, perfect way to get my first bucket."

From there, it was far from perfection.

Of his six misses, three were from beyond the arc. He turned the ball over when his foot nicked the sideline as he attempted to launch another shot from long range. His only other basket came with just under 10 minutes left in the game -- a thunderous dunk off a bounce pass from Hawks star Trae Young.

"I wasn't as efficient as I'm used to being, so that was a little bit disappointing to me," Risacher said. "But it's part of the game."

He knows it's going to take a while to get fully comfortable playing at such a higher level than he was accustomed to in France.

"I'm only 19, so this is a big adjustment for me," Risacher said. "I'll be better and better and better."

The numbers might not have been much to crow about, but Hawks coach Quin Snyder was pleased with what he got out of his prized rookie in 19 minutes of playing time.

"I thought he did a really good job," Snyder said. "The point of emphasis is you're not going to make shots every night. How do you impact the game other ways, whether it's a pass or a cut defensively?"

Even though the shots weren't falling, Snyder was pleased that Risacher had the confidence to keep firing away.

"You don't stop shooting," the coach said, "because he's a really good shooter."

It's easy to forget, given all the chatter, that most of Australia's squad for the first Test is locked in. It was a relatively lean week for Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne (who is bowling a lot of medium-pace bouncers) although the pair made runs in the opening round. Mitchell Marsh fell cheaply twice against Tasmania and didn't return to the bowling crease as he had previously suggested he would. Nathan Lyon got through another 41 overs of work against Victoria. In the same game, Boland finished with the fewest wickets of the home side's quicks (three) but was shaking off the early-season rust nicely. His round-the-wicket spell to Nic Maddinson was classy. His likely challenger as the back-up Test quick, Michael Neser, picked up four wickets against South Australia while Sean Abbott produced a reminder that he should remain in the conversation. Nathan McAndrew may not be a million miles away, either.

NEW ORLEANS -- Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball played in his first NBA game since Jan. 14, 2022, recording 5 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes during Wednesday's 123-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

When Ball checked into the game with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter, he did so without fanfare. He had been through an emotional return during the preseason -- when he stepped on an NBA court for a game for the first time following a cartilage transplant in his left knee in March 2023 -- when his teammates gifted him the game ball and celebrated him in the locker room afterward.

On Wednesday, Ball called his two preseason appearances a "trial run" leading up to the regular season. He has been looking forward to putting the talk about his left knee behind him and focusing on basketball.

"The basketball hasn't changed," Ball said after shootaround Wednesday morning. "This just counts toward the record. So go out there, continue to play how I play."

The Bulls plan to bring Ball off the bench and limit his minutes to 14-16 per game for at least the foreseeable future, according to coach Billy Donovan. Wednesday night marked the first time Ball came off the bench since Dec. 20, 2019.

"For him, he's been able to wrap his head around the fact that this is my new norm," Donovan said before the game. "This is my reality."

Ball appeared in three stints during Wednesday's game. He knocked down his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer in the first quarter. He checked in for a more extended stretch during the second quarter, playing seven minutes. His final appearance came in the third, when he was limited to about three minutes before he hit his restriction for the night.

Ball acknowledged playing on a short minutes limit has been an adjustment, but he tried to find ways to remain productive.

"Time is definitely limited out there, so just be aggressive as possible," Ball said before the game. "Play with a lot of energy, come in and try to give a spark off the bench."

Ball is also not expected to play games on consecutive nights as the team aims to manage his health. Chicago has a game in Milwaukee on Friday before its home opener Saturday, but Donovan said the team will monitor how Ball comes out of Wednesday's game before determining which game he plays.