OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA is officially back, with the first two games of the season taking place on Tuesday night. After the Celtics defeated the 76ers, we got to see the Warriors in their first step of a quest toward winning a fourth NBA title in five seasons. They faced the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder, who gave a valiant effort despite being without former MVP Russell Westbrook.

Stephen Curry led all scorers with 32 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Durant was his normal offensive force with 27 points. Here are five takeaways from the game.

1. Injuries suck

It was great to see the ring ceremony and all, but the game that followed was deflated by the absence of Russell Westbrook, arguably the game's most entertaining player who has a knack for playing well against the Warriors. No offense to Dennis Schroder, who played very well in his Thunder debut, but the game just wasn't the same without Russ out there doing Russ things. Not to mention that we were robbed of wild overreactions to seemingly insignificant Westbrook-Durant interactions. It's great that the NBA is back, but it would have been nice to have a more entertaining game in the nightcap.

2. George gets cooking

Without Westbrook, there was considerable offensive slack for Paul George to pick up, but there was also added defensive attention from the Warriors' long and formidable defense. It seemed to get to George in the first half, when he shot just 1-for-8 from the field for six points, but he must have found a magical elixir at halftime. He came out of the locker room and torched the Warriors for 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the third quarter and brought the Thunder back into the game.

George finished with 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting as the Thunder's unquestioned No. 1 option.

3. Willkommen, Dennis

Everyone's favorite blonde-streaked German point guard was pressed into the starting lineup due to Westbrook's injury, and overcame a slow start to make a solid Thunder debut. OKC has traditionally struggled when Westbrook is off the court, so Schroder was brought in from Atlanta to help keep the team afloat offensively during those minutes. With the injuries to Westbrook and Andre Roberson, he was the best guard on the roster on Tuesday night, and he played like it, including with a wild block on Klay Thompson. Schroder finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists as he became familiar with a recent OKC tradition -- losing to the Golden State Warriors (Thunder are 3-12 against Golden State since the 2014-15 season).

4. Reversible rings are now a thing

When you keep winning titles, you have to come up with new and adventurous championship rings -- well you don't have to, but you can. The Warriors unveiled this year's edition on Tuesday in a pregame ring ceremony, and it has a new feature -- it's reversible. What on earth is a reversible ring, you might ask? Take a look for yourself.

Can't wait to see what Golden State whichever team wins the title comes up with next year.

5. Center by committee

The Warriors may not yet have the services of DeMarcus Cousins, but, if Tuesday was any indication, the center position is in good hands. First-time starter Damian Jones (12 points, three rebounds) and 22-year-old Kevon Looney (10 points, 10 rebounds) held down the fort admirably, putting up numbers and making momentum-changing plays on both ends. They may not do this every night, but it's clear that they both grasp the system and will fill in nicely while the team waits for Cousins. Jordan Bell, who many pegged as the heir-apparent at starting center before losing out to Jones in camp, only played seven minutes. He had a great sequence when he blocked two shots on the same possession, but it appears he's third on the depth chart at this point.