Memphis @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 11, 2017 ) Houston 101, Memphis 89

The Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets each already have a win over the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors under their belt and both are undefeated on the young season. Something will have to give on Monday, when the Rockets host the Grizzlies in an early Southwest Division showdown.

Houston is changing things on the fly after losing point guard Chris Paul to a knee bruise in the first game and is going back to what worked last season with James Harden leading the offense. "It doesn't," Harden responded to ESPN.com when asked if it changes his mentality. "Just make plays, score the ball and play the right way." Memphis knocked the Warriors off their game in a 111-101 triumph on Saturday but is not ready to stop pushing forward. "We’ve got to be humble in this win," Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons told reporters. "We did a lot of good things (Saturday), but we’ve also still got a lot of things that we can clean up and build off this and get better. It’s not going to get easier. We’re going to Houston, and that’s another big test for us; another big team we’ve eventually got to go through in the West."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Memphis), AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston)

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (2-0): Memphis is hitting the road for the first time this season and has several new faces but still leans heavily on center Marc Gasol. The All-Star dominated the Warriors with 34 points and 14 rebounds on Saturday and recorded two double-doubles in as many games. "We are really active, I think," Gasol told reporters. "Guys are taking to heart what they’re supposed to do. They’re competing on the ball. Obviously, there’s a lot of mistakes made, but I think our hustle and determination is getting us through them."

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (3-0): Houston was just 11-of-47 from 3-point range in the home opener against Dallas on Saturday but managed to pull out a 107-91 win thanks to 29 points and seven assists from Harden. The Rockets, who shot 35.7 percent from 3-point range on an average of 40.3 attempts in 2016-17, are shooting just 28.6 percent from beyond the arc on an average of 44.3 attempts early in 2017-18. “We have so far to go," forward Ryan Anderson told the Houston Chronicle. "We’re still figuring it out. We’re still gelling together. Lot of new guys. We haven’t been playing the way we want to and we’re still winning. It’s great news because it shows where we can go."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Rockets SG Eric Gordon is 5-of-25 from 3-point range.

2. Grizzlies SF James Ennis III is 8-of-8 from the floor.

3. The teams split four meetings last season, with Houston taking the last two by an average of 19.5 points.

PREDICTION: Rockets 106, Grizzlies 99