Sacramento 120, Golden State 107

What else can you say about the Golden State Warriors just one week into the season?

They clearly have no set plan offensively or defensively. They're supposedly playing for a player's coach, but they don't really work that hard or put in a lot of effort (watch these Warriors trail while "defending" a fast break), and they don't really appear to care about their fellow teammates. Nobody on this team, save for Stephen Curry(notes), is looking to play proper basketball and find the open man.

They gave up 120 points to a Kings team that is missing its top scorer. The Warriors allowed Tyreke Evans(notes) to score 20 first-half points in Kevin Martin's(notes) absence, but still managed to let the Kings waltz their way to 55 second-half points when Evans fell off after halftime. They just don't care.

And this is Nov. 9. What are we going to be writing about in March? The fistfight during the opening jump? The sit-down protest? Don Nelson, player/coach?

The Kings wanted to compete. They pushed the ball, moved the ball and looked for each other. Donte Greene(notes) had 17 points off the bench, Jason Thompson(notes) (pictured above) managed a double-double and Beno Udrih(notes) was constantly in the paint, finishing with 20 points and six assists.

Rookie Omri Casspi(notes) continues to shine, finishing with 12 points (on six shots), 10 rebounds, five assists, three turnovers and three steals off the Kings bench.

Detroit 88, Philadelphia 81

Ben Wallace(notes) was clearly the story, here, as you all know me as the typical glass half-full kind of guy.

But, say, just say, that I work it as a glass half-empty guy for one night. One morning. One afternoon. One Monday.

If that were the case, I might feel compelled to bring up Philly's Elton Brand(notes) yet again, and point out how sad it is to watch him right now.

EB just appears to have absolutely nothing left, no lift and no quickness, and I don't know what the solution is save for the position change that's been apparent and necessary and quite obvious to just about every right-thinking person on earth save for Eddie Jordan and Tony DiLeo.

Six points on 10 shots on Sunday for Brand, who turned it over three times in 30 minutes.

Wallace? Masterful.

Old, but, eh, 16 rebounds, three blocks and three assists in the same amount of time that Brand played. Topping off the best week of basketball that I've seen him play since his first season with Chicago. And he was pretty crummy that year.

Detroit slowed the tempo and worked the offensive glass and watched as Philly's Lou Williams (five assists, four turnovers, missed seven of 10 shots) fell back to earth after a great start to the season.

Phoenix 102, Washington 90

The Suns turned the ball over 20 times and somehow made 12 fewer free throws than Washington (enough of a crime to only get to the stripe 14 times, but then to only make six freebies?). But this game was always in Phoenix's hands. After the second quarter. This game was 75 percent in Phoenix's hands. This game was in 75 percent of Phoenix's hands. We'll work on this.

Phoenix has clearly worked on the part of the game where they pass the ball properly, totaling 30 assists on 42 field goals. The team managed 103 points per 100 possessions, which is usually pretty poor, but quite good considering the free-throw and turnover issues.

Steve Nash(notes) had three turnovers, while we're listing. To 17 dimes.

Washington needs another month or so with this offense, and for Antawn Jamison(notes) to return. Phoenix tried hard, but you really shouldn't be shooting 39 percent against the Suns.

Oklahoma City 102, Orlando 74

I noticed before the game that Orlando's defensive statistics, so far this season, had really fallen off. The team was first in the NBA in defensive efficiency last season, and only 18^th in the league entering Sunday. And the Magic ranked 20^th overall after the loss.

Bad loss. Bad offense. Truly poor offense. More drops -- the team was first in the NBA in offensive efficiency this season, heading into Sunday, and now the Magic are third. Not a good night out.

Nothing to really get worried about, if I'm a Magic fan. The team was impatient offensively, not hitting shots, without Vince Carter(notes), Rashard Lewis(notes) and Ryan Anderson(notes), and just not ready to do much of anything. More turnovers than assists. Thirteen of 16 3-pointers clanged. A major (15-board) disadvantage on the glass.

The Thunder just put in work, moved the ball expertly (27 assists on 40 field goals), and couldn't seem to miss from the field. It was about time, because watching this team has been borderline drudgery this year, with all the missed shots and poor decisions.

Durant had 28 points on 17 shots. Russell Westbrook(notes) turned it over five times (his average), but he also started finding others and finished with 10 assists. Thabo Sefalosha made all three of his three-point attempts and ended the night with 10 boards as well.

Portland 116, Minnesota 93

Truly impressed with Portland's defense in this game. Yes, the offense blew up, and Nate McMillan's choice to move Brandon Roy(notes) into the frontcourt and work Steve Blake(notes) (essentially a shooting guard now) and Andre Miller(notes) in the backcourt is paying off, but we're used to seeing the Trail Blazers kill it offensively against smaller teams.

The defense, though? Overloading on both Jonny Flynn(notes) and Al Jefferson(notes)? Great work from Portland.

Flynn could clearly get to the paint whenever he wanted, so Portland sent heaps of help. Flynn finished with just 11 points (on 10 shots) and three assists, when there could have been much, much more. And though Al Jefferson is still having issues with getting off the floor, timing, footwork and touch, he also had all sorts of Trail Blazers milling around as he received an entry pass or went up for a shot.

Jefferson had 12 points on 11 shots The lone offensive bright spot for Minnesota? Nathan Jawai(notes) came off the bench in the blowout, and though he looks huge (not Eddy Curry(notes)-styled huge, I should point out), Jawai made that scouting report come to life. Lots of touch, good moves, good player. He totaled 16 points, six boards and one turnover in 22 minutes.

Portland put in 123 points per 100 possessions with its best player (Roy) missing five of six shots. The team just seemed to have size, quickness and shooting-touch advantages at every position.

Los Angeles Lakers 104, New Orleans 88

The Lakers won by 16 points, but this was much more one-sided than the score would indicate.

The slow pace (90 possessions) helped, but the Lakers were comfortably ahead for most of the contest, toying with New Orleans for a good chunk of it. The Hornets shot 36.5 percent, and if Chris Paul(notes) had Orlando's roster (even the one without Carter, Lewis and Anderson) to work with, he would have finished with 20 assists.

I've noticed this all year -- Paul probably averages seven or eight set-ups for open, makeable shots (would-be assists) per game that his teammates don't finish. Conservative estimate.

Nine assists on the night for Paul, in under 30 minutes, with 15 points on eight shot attempts. Zero turnovers. Zero patience for this.

Kobe Bryant's(notes) 28 points in 33 minutes on 21 shots may seem somewhat routine, but he's still working out of the post, and there is so, so much upside here. Especially as he gets more and more comfortable with picking out cutters to dish to, and his teammates keep looking for him.

The havoc he creates -- I've been begging for this for years -- by just setting up and not even touching the ball? This could be huge. There's a reason the Lakers scored 115.6 points per 100 possessions tonight without Pau Gasol(notes) or Andrew Bynum(notes), and it's directly related to this force down low that does quite a bit of damage.

Los Angeles' bench did fine work in both halves. Shannon Brown(notes) and Luke Walton(notes) combined to make six of their nine 3-pointers (Brown even looked off Kobe in the post for one attempt early in the shot clock, not sure if I want to see that again), and the Lakers put up 27 assists on 38 field goals. Dominant.

Related: Omri Casspi, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Nathan Jawai, Tyreke Evans, Donte Greene, Ryan Anderson, Jason Thompson, Russell Westbrook, Shannon Brown, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, Andrew Bynum, Beno Udrih, Al Jefferson, Kevin Martin, Steve Blake, Eddy Curry, Luke Walton, Pau Gasol, Andre Miller, Elton Brand, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Ben Wallace, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Golden State Warriors, Behind the boxscore