The NBA Season has begun and it seems to be going nicely.  I wanted to tell you about the standings so far, but since all the teams have played either one or two games only, there’s not much you can glean from that.  One of the big matchups this week, however, was Dallas vs. Houston.  The last few years, Dallas has been playing much better than Houston, but the Rockets have beefed up their lineup with several good players this time around, and some of their other players have improved markedly. Dallas still has a strong lineup this year, and they hope they can get a big further in the playoffs now.  Between Jason Kid and Dirk Nowitzk, they should be impressive. However, they lost last night to the Rockets by 10, putting them at 0-1 on the season so far.  There’s a long way to go, so do not worry!

Patrick Ewing was a fan favorite on the New York Knicks for many years.  But his son, who is trying to enter the NBA, was cut by his former team yesterday.  Ewing scored 7 points in the final quarter of the final preseason game to make a good impression.  But the Knicks reached their 15-player limit by keeping Anthony Roberson and cutting Ewing Jr.  It wasn’t the Ewing Jr. wasn’t good; he played decently.  But according to coach Mike D’Antoni (who just joined the Knicks after several years in Phoenix), he needs to work more on his game.  And the team needed a shooter, which they got in Roberson.  Perhaps we’ll see young Ewing in the NBA yet, but it looks like he has to practice a bit more to get there.

The Phoenix Suns improved to 5-3 in exhibition play after a 102-93 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 1-5.  Both teams will finish up their preseason games in the next couple of days.  The Thunder were seriously shorthanded in this game, with four of their main players on the injured list.  The Suns, however, will miss Amare Stoudemire, who dislocated his finger after scoring 17 points during last night’s game.  Stoudemire missed the first 5 games of the preseason with an eye problem and will miss several games.  Steve Nash returned during this game to score 15 points after a sprained left ankle kept him out of the last three games.  Shaq O’Neal, who has joined the Suns this year, may not play much on back-to-back nights this season, in order to keep him healthy.  For the Suns, the season begins on Wednesday in a great southwestern showdown against the San Antonio Spurs.

Initially, it may seem somewhat shocking that the Boston Celtics have waived Darius Miles from their official roster. After all, this was the number 3 overall draft pick just two years ago. However, the Celtics program felt as though he was adding less than he was taking away from the organization. Partly due to major knee injuries that he had sustained in the past two seasons and more importantly his violation of the league’s drug code, the Celtics have waived him from their roster. Get the full story by clicking here.

Down by over ten points to begin the 4th quarter, the Detroit Pistons rallied late in the game to overcome the Dallas Mavericks and steal a preseason win that will go a long way to boost confidence. Using the starters to finish out the last five minutes of the game, Detroit outscored the Mavericks by 17 points in the fourth quarter and pulled out a shocking 85-81 lead. Though its only a preseason game, it was a strong choice on the coach’s part to make his starters play in a pressure situation. It will better prepare them for the season when every game counts. Go to NBA.com to find scores on all the latest games.

The Memphis Grizzlies easily handled the Indiana Pacers 103-95 last night, October 13, garnering their second straight preseason victory. Powered by the 26 points put up by rookie guard O.J. Mayo, the Tigers feel confident about this 1st round pick. Mayo, drafted 3rd overall in the NBA Draft, drained 6 three pointers last night, shooting a remarkable 75% from behind the arc. To find out more about the NBA preseason, check out NBA.com.

Looking young and looking good—or at least promising. The Portland Trail Blazers is going to be full of young players this upcoming NBA season. The Trail Blazers are trying to improve the record with new players. But the coaching staff has already expressed concerns about the inexperience of its team. But in this young team, there is a lot of promise and potential for growth. Also, the younger players should appeal more to younger audiences, thus creating a new fan following for the Trail Blazers.

The New York Knicks will be undergoing a new task at practice. That being learning how to run, or rather, relearning how to run to be better than the competition. Strength and conditioning coaches are on a mission to improve the players’ ability to run. After all, running is essential to basketball and so if you’re good, you will be able to score more and easier baskets. Greg Brittenham will be leading this new training initiative and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the season.

Jared Jeffries is going to have wait for his injury to heal before being able to step onto the basketball court. Jeffries broke his left fibula during training camp practice after doing a lay-up. Not only will this put Jeffries on the injured rooster, it will also delay his chance of being able to play when the season starts. Just when Jeffries was being put on the starting list, he will now have to wait anywhere from two to four weeks of the season before lacing up. Jeffries plays for the New York Nicks.