NBA Early Season Report

What may get lost in the thick of the NFL season is that there are indeed meaningful basketball games being played in the NBA!

     It is very hard to make much of the first 6-8 games in the NBA considering there are a total of 82, but basketball is back so lets check out some early headlines:

Derrick Rose’s Return

     The superstar point guard made his long awaited return to the court against Miami in the opener but hasn’t quite shook off the rust of sitting out over an entire year. His Chicago Bulls have only won 1 game while losing three, but in that one win Rose had the game winning jumper. We wait as he shakes off the rust and takes his MVP form.

Indiana Pacers

     If somebody told you that there was one undefeated team in the entire NBA, they were in the Eastern Conference and they have an early season MVP frontrunner, the typical answer would be the Miami Heat and LeBron James. Instead, it is Paul George and the Indiana Pacers who are looking very strong early on with George dominating the outside and Roy Hibbert and David West providing the big men presence. No team has ever been to the NBA Finals 4 years in a row and if there is one team from the East to unseat the Heat, it sure is looking like the Pacers early on.

Dallas Mavericks

     The Mavs are off to a pretty good start at 3-2 with their two losses coming to Houston and Oklahoma City, two legitimate threats in the West. No shame in those losses especially early on. Dirk may finally have somebody to spread the ball to in Monta Ellis, an excellent pickup.

Dwight Debut and plays the Lakers

     In Dwight Howard’s first game as a Houston Rocket, he did not disappoint, hauling in a career high 26 rebounds while pitching in 17 points. He looks to be different and much more healthy than last year. What is not different though is how to beat him. Hack-a-Howard still is the formula to beating Dwight, which raises the question of if he is a liability or an asset late in games. His first game against his former team, the Lakers, Howard shot 5 for 16 overall and an abysmal 1 for 6 from the free throw line over the last 2 minutes and 30 seconds leading to a very close Lakers victory. And that was at home with not much pressure, facing the Lakers without Kobe Bryant. Howard will have to be much better February 19^th when he is in LA and the Lakers will probably have the Black Mamba back if he wants to give his team the chance to win.