Houston is 2-1 this week (so far), and the rise of another Western Conference team has resulted in a slight drop in the power rankings.

The Cavaliers are still finding their footing. Last season they had the top-ranked offense and were eighth in defensive rating; this season they're 11th in both departments. They just dropped a game at home to the Blazers and have lost four of their last five. Cleveland is dangerously close to being dropped into Tier 4.

Anthony Davis scored 29 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 122-109 to finish a back-to-back coming off a blowout loss at defending champion Oklahoma City.

In a league in which teams average more than 37 3-point attempts per game, the Rockets showed there's another way to do it in blowout win over the Kings.

For the first time, Rockets fans now have a direct-to-consumer (DTC) option to subscribe to Space City Home Network game broadcasts.

Nobody else has dove in on offensive rebounding to the extent the Rockets have, with their massive 38.5 percent offensive rebound rate after an offseason spent adding ever more size to go with their already formidable frontcourt. But in a copycat NBA, this could be the latest Houston-initiated math hack that ends up widely imitated.

So far, the Rockets are 0-2 in the second game of a back-to-back, losing to the Mavericks and the Utah Jazz (Dec. 1). Their schedule through the early portion of the season has been relatively easy, having faced just seven teams that currently have a top-six seed in each conference.