This week will challenge the Grizzlies’ hot start

Every team wants to get off to a good start, but the Memphis Grizzlies felt like they had to have a strong November if they were really going to compete for a title. "We can't be playing catch-up like we have the last few years," Mike Conley told me back in October. "We've had to fight so hard just to get into the eighth seed or the seventh seed because the West is so tough."

So far, so good. The Grizzlies won nine of their first 10 games and enter the week tied with the best record in the league. There are no surprises with Memphis. The defense has been on point and the starters have been excellent. The offense has been good enough, but outside shooting and depth have been concerns with players like Vince Carter and Quincy Pondexter yet to hit their stride.

All of that has one wondering if the Grizzlies will be just good enough to be a problem, but not quite strong enough to really be a factor. This week will help answer some of those questions, beginning Monday with a showdown against the Rockets and continuing through games at Toronto, home against Boston (in a class contrast of styles) and finishing up with a bout against the Clippers on Saturday. Let's see what ya got, Grizz.

This is not a list of the best games of the week -- although some of them are -- or a schedule full of weird games only League Pass nerds would ever watch, even though a few of them are represented here as well. This is merely a list of the games we plan to focus on this week. (All games are local and League Pass broadcasts, unless noted).

Let's not waste any time here. Anthony Davis vs. Boogie Cousins. Come get some.

The Wizards are 7-2, but it's difficult to tell just how good they really are. Their offense has been lackluster without Bradley Beal, but their defense has been tight, albeit against a soft schedule. All seven of their wins have comes against lower-echelon teams in the Eastern Conference and their two losses were against the Heat and Raptors. They have six of their next seven against teams with winning records, including two against the Cavaliers, so we should start to have a better feel for them soon.

The Clippers have been strangely inconsistent this season. They were blown out by the Warriors and followed that up with a gut-check win against Portland. They dropped a game at home to San Antonio where they couldn't score and then ran roughshod over the Suns. This is the second game of a seven-game road trip over the next week and a half, and it's time for Doc Rivers' crew to get its act together.

Lost amid the Derrick Rose drama is the notion that the Bulls might have the best offense of the Tom Thibodeau era. Pau Gasol has been a perfect fit inside and with Jimmy Butler back in the lineup, they have a needed jolt of athleticism and playmaking on the wing. There will always be concern about Rose, of course, but this is the deepest, most complete team of the Thibs era. The Blazers, meanwhile, opened the season with nine of their first 12 games at home and they've taken advantage of the slate, winning six of seven coming into the week.

Has any player grown on the analytic community more than DeMar DeRozan? He's a throwback to the late 90s and early 2000s style of player who lives in the mid-range and does damage by getting to the free throw line. But he does that really well. He's attacking defenders and initiating contact even more than the past, which Dwane Casey referenced earlier in the season.

I was part of a large number of people who pegged the Thunder as the odds-on favorite to come out the West this season before the injuries hit. Lingering in the back of my mind was the idea that Golden State was too dangerous to ignore. This was my pick for the conference finals and it may work out that way if Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can get healthy in time. Now, it's just a game the Warriors should win on the road.