Injuries:

-Spencer Hawes missed practice but the lower back injury appears minor and he should be good to start the season.

-Josh Smith should be out the next week after cutting his hand on the rim during a preseason game.

-Jeff Pendergraph is out for the season after tearing his ACL.  Whatever workout regiment they have for the centers in Portland needs to be adjusted.

-Troy Murphy continues to deal with a back injury that will keep him out for time being.  His status to start the season is becoming cloudier by the day.  Derrick Favors only had three points and four boards filling in for Murphy on Thursday.

-John Salmons still has not started basketball related activities and will likely miss the start of the season.

-Beno Udrih continues to be sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Notables:

-Dirk Nowitzki looked to be in midseason form, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 boards in a win over the Bulls.  Caron Butler had 22 in the same game.

-J.J. Hickson had 16 points, eight rebounds and a block on Thursday.  Personally, I think he's in for a big season.  Another favorite of mine, Ramon Sessions, had 10 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and a steal in the same game.  Don't sleep on him either.

-Jeff Teague had 20 points and six assists in Thursday's matchup with the Grizzlies.  If it comes down to choosing Mike Bibby or Teague, the latter is the correct player to choose.  In the same game Marvin Williams had 18 points, 10 rebounds and two treys.  He's the type of player who should flourish under coach Larry Drew's new system.

-It came out on Thursday that Roy Hibbert has identified and dealt with a minor asthma problem during the offseason.  In case you haven't heard it from any of us yet, he's in for a solid year if he stays out of foul trouble.  There's a slim possibility that the asthma winded him, causing him to slack on defense leading to the accumulation of fouls but that's purely my speculation.

-Marcus Thornton, Peja Stojakovic and Shawn Marion will come of the bench for their respective teams this season.  Marco Belinelli will starts for the Hornets at shooting guard.