Give credit to the Mavericks. When they have at least one interior player going well--last night it was Erick Dampier--they are extremely good.

The other thing to realize is that Detroit is scoring more points, and allowing more points than last year. We all think of them as the big "D" team, but the style is different. It's working. They're the best team in the league so far, but the idea that they'll hold you to 70 points is outdated. As a little thumbnail sketch of the evidence: at the moment, this is the twelfth highest-scoring team, and the sixth best at holding opponents' scoring down. Of course, it's early, but it seems that this team will be winning a different way than the old Pistons.

And, at the same time, you have to give credit to Larry Brown as a defensive coach. One of the teams that is holding opponents to lower scoring than the Pistons is the Knicks.