Another day of NBA action means more Australians on the court, with Ben Simmons, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels and Josh Green all in action on Saturday morning.

A bad habit has crept into Simmons’ game early in the season while Daniels has quickly emerged as a fan favourite in Atlanta.

Green, meanwhile, showed flashes in his Hornets debut as Giddey was much-improved for the Bulls.

Continue reading for foxsports.com.au’s wrap of how the Australians in the NBA looked on Saturday!

GIDDEY’S ‘GREAT’ TRAIT SHINES THROUGH IN BULLS WIN

While it’s fair to say Josh Giddey’s Chicago Bulls tenure started inauspiciously, he flipped the script in Saturday’s galvanising win over Milwaukee.

Giddey recorded 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds on 6-10 shooting from the field against the Bucks. It came after 14 points and three assists in the Bulls’ season-opening loss to the Pelicans on Thursday.

The fourth-year guard imposed himself in Chicago’s 11-point win, showcasing his passing prowess, knocking down his first three-pointer in Bulls colours, and posting a net positive plus-minus after finishing a team-worst -22 in the opener.

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Against the Pels, opposition guards were unbothered leaving Giddey in space on the perimeter as he missed his one three-point attempt, but the 22-year-old was accurate both times from distance against Milwaukee.

Chicago needs its new ball-handler — a career 31 per cent shooter from outside — to continue to knock down three-pointers, especially when opponents sag off.

But while shooting — including from the free-throw line — remains a key improvement point for the burgeoning Australian, frontcourt vision and playmaking off the dribble are not.

“Another good pass by Josh Giddey,” CHSN play-by-play analyst Stacey King noted after Giddey craftily found guard Zach LaVine for his eighth assist of the night.

Later, with two minutes remaining in the game, Giddey put the Bulls up 13 with a dagger three-pointer from the corner.

“That’s a confident shot — two confident shots (tonight from three-point land) … Giddey can shoot,” King said.

Unexpectedly, Chicago gave Milwaukee more than it could handle at Fiserv Forum — shockingly drilling 21 threes to trump their season-high 19 from a year ago in just the second game of the new season.

Coby White was the catalyst for the visitors, running hot in the second half en route to 35 points on 7-13 shooting from downtown.

On Sunday morning (AEDT), Giddey’s Bulls will play their second game of a back-to-back — in Chicago against Giddey’s former team, Oklahoma City.

The Bulls won 39 games last season but farewelled crunch-time beast DeMar DeRozan in an off-season trade with Sacramento, leaving a playmaking void Chicago hopes Giddey can help fill.

And while injury-hampered guard Lonzo Ball made an inspiring return to the court against New Orleans — he missed against the Bucks on Saturday — the Bulls have low external expectations for season 2024-25.

Giddey was “surprised” by resounding boos during the season-opener in New Orleans but maintained he was “used to it”, and it is something he will have to continue to deal with as the campaign unfolds.

ATLANTA ‘FALLING IN LOVE’ WITH DYSON DANIELS AFTER CAREER NIGHT

It is only early, but Dyson Daniels looks like he could be one of the NBA’s breakout stars from the 2024-25 season.

While Daniels was already known as one of the league’s elite perimeter defenders from his time at New Orleans, the Australian guard has emerged as a genuine difference maker on both ends of the floor in his first two games since being traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

Daniels scored a career-high 18 points in Atlanta’s 125-120 win over a plucky Charlotte Hornets team, adding four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Backcourt partner Trae Young had one of the his best all-round games of his career, scoring 38 points to go with seven rebounds, 10 assists and four steals, although he turned the ball over seven times.

LaMelo Ball, meanwhile was hard to stop for the Hornets with 34 points, including a career-high nine 3-pointers, to go with four assists but had 10 turnovers and fouled out of the game with three minutes left.

Elsewhere, Josh Green made his Hornets debut after missing the season opener through injury and had five points, three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block off the bench.

Young set the tone for what was an electric first quarter from the Hawks guard, opening the scoring for Atlanta with a long 3-pointer after Ball missed his first attempt of the game.

Young continued to be heavily involved as the Hawks went up 7-0 early, with Daniels putting on a nice move to get to the rim and finish, extending Atlanta’s lead to 15-6.

Daniels, who had 10 deflections in his Hawks debut against the Nets, once again was disrupting passing lanes with active hands and had a steal and block in the first quarter to go with that early bucket.

Fellow Australian Green checked in for his first minutes as a Hornet with Charlotte trailing 23-12 and couldn’t get his first shot to go, although he was playing with his trademark energy, throwing himself at defensive boards.

The Hawks led 28-16 after the first quarter, with Young leading the way on nine points while the Hornets as a team shot a lowly 24 per cent from the field.

Daniels picked up his third foul of the game early in the second quarter and had to check out, with Atlanta still up 34-23 at that point as Ball went to the line.

The Hawks held on to take a 62-58 lead into halftime, with Charlotte dominating on the offensive boards (14-3) to keep in touching distance.

Ball (18 points) and Miles Bridges (15 points) were the main sources of offence for the Hornets in the first half, with Green (0-for-3 from the field) struggling to get his shots to fall in his team debut.

It was a similar story for Atlanta, with De’Andre Hunter and Young combining for 30 points.

Daniels opened the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers while also later putting it on a platter for Clint Capela with the lob and then dunking it home himself on the next possession as the Hawks pushed their lead out to 77-67.

But the Hawks were able to close the gap again, with Green having his best stretch of the game as he scored his first points in Atlanta colours after an athletic move for the reverse lay-in before then flying to secure an offensive rebound which later led to a pair of free throws.

The Hornets only trailed 88-85 entering the final quarter and Green helped tie the game up early in the period after he made his first 3-pointer, although Young answered right back with a triple of his own.

Daniels, meanwhile, had a pair of buckets to bring up 16 points – one shy of a career-high – but soon after picked up his fifth foul and checked back out of the game.

“When you watch us play you see the impact he has,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said post-game.

“Our team became a little deflated when he came out… when he went to the bench it’s hard.”

Daniels got back into the game late to help the Hawks hold off a Hornets team that refused to go away and made a circus shot to bring up the career-high 18 points, later adding another block for good measure.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, that’s a 20,” Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins said of Daniels’ shot.

Hawks play-by-play commentator Bob Rathbun, meanwhile, said Atlanta was “falling in love” with the Australian and his “all-out effort”.

“What he does doesn’t show up on the stats sheet because he does so many other things,” added Wilkins, noting Daniels’ defence.

While the Hawks have now opened the season 2-0, they have played two of the worst teams in the NBA in the Nets and Hornets.

But Atlanta will get a greater sense for how competitive it can be this season with Western Conference heavyweight Oklahoma City awaiting on Monday morning.

TRAP BEN SIMMONS CAN’T FALL INTO AS NETS LOSE ANOTHER

In Orlando, foul trouble once again proved a problem for Ben Simmons as the Magic breezed past the Brooklyn Nets 116-101.

Simmons was solid in his 24 minutes on the court, finishing with seven points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal, block and four turnovers as he once again started at centre for the Nets.

But Simmons struggled to stay on the court, finding himself in foul trouble early, which was hardly ideal for a Brooklyn team already having its frontcourt depth tested with Nic Claxton on a minutes restriction and Day’Ron Sharpe unavailable.

The early signs were good for Simmons, even if the execution was off on his first shot of the night as he drove right to the front of the cup, with his mistimed shot tipped in by Dorian Finney-Smith.

It ended up being Brooklyn’s only basket in the first few minutes of the game, with the Magic taking a 9-2 lead.

Simmons was creating plenty of open looks for his teammates but they couldn’t get their shots to fall until a deep Denis Schroder 3-pointer helped close the gap to 12-8.

At that point Cam Thomas had been a non-factor on offence, not attempting a single one of Brooklyn’s 11 shots.

He was fouled on his first 3-point attempt of the game though, making all three free throws.

Simmons checked out with two early fouls and the Nets trailing 16-14 before the Magic quickly went on a 6-0 run, with Wendell Carter Jr. and Jalen Suggs both splashing corner threes.

But the Nets responded with a 9-0 run of their own to take a 23-22 lead into the second quarter.

That lead didn’t last long though, with the Magic going on a 17-3 run of their own in the second to jump ahead 41-31, with a Thomas turnover gifting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a fastbreak lay-up as Nets coach Jordi Fernandez called a timeout.

It was a mixed opening to the second quarter for Simmons, who had one of his passes telegraphed by Mo Wagner but hustled to save the play and draw an offensive foul.

The Magic took a 49-46 advantage into halftime, which all things considered was a positive result for the Nets given Thomas, who scored 36 points in the loss to the Hawks, only had five in the first half after going 1-for-7 from the field.

Schroder (14 points and three assists) was leading the way for Brooklyn while Franz Wagner had 12 points and four rebounds for Atlanta.

Simmons opened the third quarter with three-straight trips to the free throw line, first getting to the rim and finishing through contact before also drawing fouls on his next two drives to the cup.

The third one was initially ruled an offensive foul against Simmons but later overturned to a blocking foul on Paolo Banchero, with the Australian putting Brooklyn ahead 53-49 after the and-1.

Simmons added a block soon after and then set a nice screen for a Finney-Smith 3-pointer, but the fouls continued to pile up and with over three minutes left in the third quarter he already had five.

It meant Simmons had to check out once again. Turnovers started to make life hard for the Nets late in the third quarter as Banchero added 10 points to help the Magic to an 81-71 buffer and Brooklyn never really threatened in the fourth, going down 116-101 in the end.

Thomas finished with a flurry to put up a team-high 24 points for Brooklyn while Wagner led the way for the Magic with 29.

The loss saw the Nets fall to 0-2, with Simmons and co. now preparing for an Eastern Conference battle with the Bucks on Monday morning.