So it begins. The NBA season is back in action and finally we get a glimpse of what to expect for the remainder of the year.

This offseason was full of surprises and highly debated questions: The Deandre Jordan Circus, the Lamarcus Aldridge trade, and the Kevin Love predicament. Will Kobe regain his elite form? Can Lebron snatch a title in Cleveland?

But now, all of that offseason hype is out the window and basketball is back on television. Tuesday, October 27, marked the debut of the 2015-16 NBA season, and games were full of surprises.

For starters, let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference Knicks. Everyone this offseason was ridiculing Phil Jackson’s work in the front office. People believed that the Knicks were far from playoff contenders after a questionable first-round, #4 draft pick, Kristaps Porzingis. Despite initial reservation, Porzingis helped fuel the Knicks to a lopsided opening night victory against a talented Bucks team. Porzingis left the game playing 24 minutes while racking up a total of 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and a block.

Porzingis wasn’t alone in proving the critics wrong. His teammates Derrick Williams, Jerian Grant, and Robin Lopez showed that they were great acquisitions this summer. Williams left the court with a stat line of 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist. He was a major factor in the opening night win. The team is far from an elite team, but they should manage to fight their way to the playoffs.

The Detroit Pistons are another team that appears to be in the turnaround. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy’s roster changeup is starting to yield a solid product. The team is looking like Dwight Howard’s Magic, under the leadership of 7-footer Andre Drummond. The Pistons are now 3-0, beating the Bulls and the Hawks, two top tier teams in the Eastern Conference. Recent acquisitions Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson, and Marcus Morris have performed extremely well throughout the first three games. Marcus Morris is shooting almost 50 percent from the field and is averaging 19.3 points per game.

The three young players and star Drummond will be a talented core to build around moving forward. While the team is currently first place in the league, they have a difficult road ahead of them in the next 79 games. The Pistons still have a lot to prove before I’d call them a playoff contender, but the fans have an exciting group to watch during the NBA season.

Now let’s take a look at the Western Conference. Everything has gone pretty much as expected. The “Golden Boy,” Steph Curry, and the Golden State Warriors have run off with three easy wins, while the rebuilding Lakers are looking like the “train wreck” everyone predicted. Only one team is defying their preseason expectations, the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets are now 0-3 and haven’t shown any flashes of the brilliance we saw last season. James Harden and company have struggled in every game thus far and Dwight Howard is a shadow of what he used to be in Orlando. Having said that, two of the games were against top level teams, the Heat and the Warriors, the reigning champs. The Rockets will definitely be an NBA team, but they need to find a way to put the pieces together. Once Ty Lawson gets implemented properly into the offense, the Rockets could be the second-best team in the league.

Only time will tell if these teams can succeed this season in the NBA. Ultimately their fortunes depend on a variety of factors, but health and availability can make or break a season. If these teams get some luck with injuries, they should all have breakout years. Check in for more NBA updates next paper.