Last Night in the NBA

Let's go over last night's games and see what we see:

• Celtics lose to the Cavs last night, and I am a bit surprised. Probably a bit of a trap game for the C's, but kudos to the Cavs for getting off on the right foot. The thing of interest to me is that Antawn Jamison is not starting. Not sure what is going on there, but it seemed to work last night. Beyond that, JJ Hickson looks like that he could be a guy the Cavs could build around.
• The New Jersey Nets get off the schneid right away with a come from behind win against our affiliate, the Detroit Pistons. I thought Derrick Favors was looking a bit like a bust early on in the preseason, but he looked good last night. He had 8 and 10 in 20 minutes -- very solid. The real man on that team is Brook Lopez, who had 25 and 9 and let them to the win. As for the Pistons, there bench played well, but I am not sure if anyone stood out as a go to guy.
• Philly battled back to make it look competitive, but Miami was up all night against the Sixers. Dwayne Wade played well with 30 points, and Lebron had a poor game in my opinion -- 16 points, 7 assists, and 9 turnovers. He has a lot of turnovers in two games. Chris Bosh was solid, but not spectacular. Evan Turner looked to have had a good game with 17 points and 7 rebounds.
• The Knicks beat the Raptors last night, and I was most interested in Landry Fields getting the start and playing well with 11 points and 4 boards in 30 minutes. I thought he was really good this past summer with the Knicks, and I think he will help them a lot this year. The Raptors -- nothing sexy about that team.
• Here is my upset of the night -- Hornets over the Bucks. I thought the Bucks would beat them with a deeper team, but kudos to Monte Williams and Dell Demps on their first win. The Bucks, outside of Corey Maggette, did not get much from their bench, but it looks like Chris Paul was the best player on the court with 17 points and 16 assists and that is what won the game.
• Sacramento with a nice win over Minnesota. Demarcus Cousins debut was solid with 14 points and 8 boards. Luke Ridnour led the T-Wolves in scoring with 20, and I don't think that is a winning formula for that team. I think Beasley or Love have to be on top of that list for them to win. D-Leaguer Anthony Tolliver continues to be a contributor with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
• In a game I actually watched, the Sonics beat the Bulls 106-95. A much closer game than it looked, I was struck by how many shots Derrick Rose shot -- 31. Slim Chin would not like that. I liked their front court most of all, with Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah dominating the boards. On the other side, Durant and Westbrook are going to be a force in the league for years to come.
• Atlanta beat Memphis -- who cares.
• Dallas beat the Bobcats -- guh.
• The Pacers lost to the Spurs last night, but Pacers fans have to be happy about the continued development of Roy Hibbert, who had 28 and 9 last night. I give all the credit to Vitaly Potapenko!
• I am surprised how the Nuggets just drubbed Utah. Without Boozer, there doesn't seem to be a go to scorer for the Jazz, and I think they are going to struggle without him. For the Nuggets, it is nice to see former D-Leaguer Gary Forbes not only make the team, but get some scratch.
• Golden State looked like the game of the night with Monta Ellis going off for 46. Former D-Leaguer Reggie Williams had a nice night with 7 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes.
• Finally, the Blake Griffin debut was not disappointment. The Clips lost -- shocker -- but he looked awesome. Griffin finished with 20 points and 14 boards and looked explosive. He will be fun to watch this year and give Clips fans like my brother in law some hope.