Miami vs Oklahoma, possible final?

Every team in the NBA is on the board, so naturally it's time to be make sweeping statements about what we've seen. Why wait? We've waited long enough to get here.

Let's just give the Eastern Conference title to the Miami Heat. Their Christmas Day beating of the defending champs doesn't exactly extract revenge for the NBA Finals, but it shows that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and friends won't spend the first month of this season getting to know each other.

Miami is ready to play … and win.

"I'm encouraged," Wade said. "It's different from last year and we're little more together and more comfortable. This is step one."

Now those Dallas Mavericks have taken two steps back. Dirk Nowitzki's crew followed up the Heat meltdown by getting blown out by the Denver Nuggets.

The Mavericks look lost. Is Lamar Odom's heart still in Los Angeles? He got ejected on opening night and looked dejected the next, shooting 1 of 10. Vince Carter and Delonte West have already been swapped in the starting lineup.

Another Dallas newcomer, Sean Williams, threw up during the Nuggets game. Watching the Mavs play right now is hard for anyone to stomach.

"It's my job to make sure these guys are ready to play, and it's clear that they're not," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "Right now, that's not something that's easy for me to say, and it's not an easy thing to live with. I've got a lot of work to do."

The Los Angeles Lakers also opened with two losses, but their 0-2 feels a lot better than Dallas' 0-2. The Chicago Bulls needed Derrick Rose's teardrop and some fine defense on play-diagramming Kobe Bryant to leave Staples Center victorious on Christmas.

Falling the next night at Sacramento is nothing to be ashamed of. An awful lot of teams are going to look silly trying to guard the Kings backcourt of Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton.

Speaking of the Bulls, the high of the Lakers win was tempered the subsequent night at Golden State. Rose went from hero in the opener to, eh, just a guy against the Warriors.

The MVP is going to be great more nights than not, but the hectic schedule of back-to-backs is going to take something out of the league's stars. They can't be special every night.

When it comes to special, did you see those passes in Ricky Rubio's debut Monday? The Spanish playmaker channeled Magic Johnson finding his Minnesota teammates through a crowd of Oklahoma City Thunder defenders.

"He looked comfortable and we had him in there down the stretch," said Kevin Love, the Timberwolves' resident All-Star. "He made a few great plays, effective plays. He was running the offense, so we're happy with where he's at."

New York fans have to be happy with their Knicks. Carmelo Anthony dropped 37 points on the Boston Celtics, while center Tyson Chandler proved his worth with six blocks. Kevin Garnett going home mad was just an added bonus for the Madison Square Garden crowd.

Chris Paul looked right at home with the Los Angeles Clippers, going for 20 points and nine assists in his unveiling alongside Blake Griffin. For the guy who forged a strong bond with New Orleans, Paul is going to love L.A.

Of the six teams that played on both Sunday and Monday, only one stood 2-0. That's the Thunder. As much as Miami is the class of the East after the first two days of the season, Oklahoma City stands alone out West.

The Thunder's squad is young and experienced -- two traits that will play out well this season with less practice time and less time to recover. Oklahoma City hit the season ready to go.

Two-time scoring champ Kevin Durant backed up his 30-point outburst against Orlando on Christmas with 33 at Minnesota. The season's first back-to-back played out perfectly for OKC.

"The game is coming to us," Durant said. "If we continue to do this, it'll be fun."

Thunder vs. Heat in the NBA Finals will be even more fun. Never too early to start planning.