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This fall the Lakers began training camp soaring like the smartest and coolest organization in the NBA. Five regular-season games later, they have collapsed into a puddle of utter and senseless panic. They have fired coach Mike Brown in a move that reeks of poor timing, poor vision and poor leadership in a front office that was once a bastion of continuity and calm.

The Milwaukee Bucks' Brandon Jennings and the Houston Rockets' James Harden were today named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Tuesday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 4.

Dwight Howard scored 28 points, Kobe Bryant had 15 points and eight assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers finally got their first victory of the season, 108-79 over the winless Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.

Two losses in two games and Steve Nash is hurt. This is not how the Lakers wanted to start the regular season. After Portland overwhelmed the Lakers’ defense in the third quarter to take a 16-point lead, the Trail Blazers kept the Lakers at bay in the final quarter to comfortably secure the win Wednesday night at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

Well, that's worked so far: James Harden scores 37 points, hands out 12 assists and grabs six rebounds in his first game for Houston as the Rockets down the Pistons 105-96.

Dwight Howard missed a two-handed dunk on his first shot, and the night never got much better for the Los Angeles Lakers. When Howard and Steve Nash took their places alongside Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol under the Hollywood spotlight, the Lakers opened a season of enormous expectations with an equally big dud of a performance. Darren Collison scored 17 points, Brandan Wright added 14, and the Dallas Mavericks spoiled the Lakers debuts of Howard and Steve Nash with a 99-91 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to the Houston Rockets, breaking up the young core of the Western Conference champions.

Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver will replace Stern, who has been commissioner since February 1984.

Dwight Howard has been cleared for limited five-on-five scrimmages with the Los Angeles Lakers in his latest step back from offseason surgery. Howard won't play in the Lakers' next preseason game Wednesday night against Portland in Ontario, Calif.

Stop the flop. The NBA will penalize floppers this season, fining players for repeated violations of an act a league official said Wednesday has "no place in our game."