5 NBA games to watch this week

The Cleveland Cavaliers offense is starting to hum, the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets can't be scored on and the Philadelphia 76ers are still searching for that elusive first victory.

Though it's three weeks into the NBA season, there's no shortage of interesting early-season storylines to keep an eye on. This week, the league comes correct with a handful of exciting matchups between teams looking to further establish themselves as contenders. The Lakers play, too.

This is basketball, so every game is worth watching. Nonetheless, here are five matchups, in particular, that you should go out of your way to see.

Monday: Houston Rockets at Memphis Grizzlies

There may not be any unbeaten teams left, but that doesn't mean there aren't major statement games between early-season powerhouses. Both the Rockets and Grizzlies stand at 9-1 entering the week and have fun schedules (see some of the other recommended games below). It's a perfect time to catch them head-to-head, considering how well they're both playing.

Don't expect a great deal of offense, though. This one will be beautiful for the competitiveness and defense, as the Rockets and Grizzlies rank first and fourth, respectively, in defensive rating. The offenses are sputtering, surprisingly so in Houston's case, but defenses have ruled the day early on.

Look for the Rockets to try and gain an edge on the offensive glass - they're the league's best team in that regard so far, and Memphis is 27th in defensive rebounding.

Wednesday: San Antonio Spurs at Cleveland Cavaliers

The defending champions against the popular favorite to dethrone them? Yeah, sign us up.

It helps that the Cavaliers appear to be picking up steam on the offensive end, while the Spurs just took three of four on a road trip, with the lone loss coming by three points. Whether or not either of these teams cares about November results, they've both played very well the past week.

For specifics, how about Boris Diaw and Kevin Love one-upping each other with passes, Kawhi Leonard looking to further solidify his lockdown defensive reputation against LeBron James, and David Blatt's ball movement-heavy offense trying to out-do the league's finest ball movement-heavy offense? 

Yeah, this will be good. It's nationally televised on ESPN, too.

Friday: Chicago Bulls at Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers have regressed some from their early strong start on defense, while the typically stingy Bulls are still finding their own form on that end. Nonetheless, the Bulls' defense taking on the motion-heavy, 3-point bombing Portland offense should be an interesting chess match in the late half of Friday's ESPN doubleheader.

Last year, LaMarcus Aldridge struggled mightily against Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and company, averaging just 8.5 points on 26 percent shooting over two meetings. He'll be the focus of Tom Thibodeau and the Chicago bigs once again, and he'll be put to work on defense by the red-hot Pau Gasol.

That Gasol-Aldridge match-up is one that's proven entertaining in the past, dating back to 2007.

Saturday: Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets

It's just a matter of time before the barbs between Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban begin. There's a well-documented rivalry between these teams that share a division, a state, and an end goal for 2014-15, a rivalry made all the more intense by the defection of Chandler Parsons from Houston to Dallas this summer.

This will mark Parsons' return to Houston and first game against his former teammates, who are doing just fine without him at 9-1. The Rockets' defense was mentioned off the top, and a large part of that is owed to de facto Parsons-replacement Trevor Ariza's performance on the wing.

Notice, too, that if things hold steady until the weekend, this would represent the league's top offense against its top defense.

Sunday: Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies

The Clippers haven't quite been the Clippers yet this season, and they'll be in for a rude awakening if they bring anything but their best at The Grindhouse on Sunday.

These teams don't seem particularly fond of each other, and the frontcourt tag-team matchup of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol is always one of the league's most entertaining. 

A year ago, Memphis took two of three meetings between the sides, and the year before that saw the Grizzlies take a first round series, 4-2. Whether or not the Clippers have a statement game or rivalry game in them right now remains to be seen, but maybe a tough week with Chicago, Miami and Memphis all on the docket will wake them up.