The Grizzlies are 5-0, joining the Rockets as the NBA's only unbeaten teams

The Memphis Grizzlies are 5-0, one of the NBA's only 2 unbeaten teams, per ESPN's standings. The Houston Rockets are also 5-0. No other team is unbeaten; the next-best records are 4-1, held by Detroit, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Los Angeles.

Game by game

• Utah: won 123-103
• at Golden State: won 111-108
• at Sacramento: won 123-112
• at Utah: won 110-105
• at Portland: won 124-103

Where the edge comes from

Memphis has outscored opponents 591-531, a plus-60 differential in total, scoring 118.2 points per game and allowing 106.2. The win at Portland was the statement game of the night. Portland entered averaging 129.3 points across its first 3 games, on 124 against Phoenix, 128 at Sacramento and 136 at Los Angeles, and Memphis held Portland to 103, winning by 21 points. Portland is now 3-1, scoring 122.8 points per game across 4 games.

Memphis has won 4 of its 5 games on the road: at Golden State, at Sacramento, at Utah and at Portland. Houston's total differential is larger, at plus-71 on 615-544, and Houston's per-game differential of plus-14.2 is ahead of Memphis's plus-12.0. Memphis matches Houston on wins, not on margin.

The skeptic's case, answered

The skeptic's case is the slate: the 4 distinct opponents Memphis has beaten are a combined 6-13 now, with Golden State at 2-3, Sacramento at 0-5 and Utah at 1-4. Fair. But Memphis beat Utah in 2 of its 5 wins, and the 4th distinct opponent is Portland, which was 3-0 entering the night and is now 3-1. A 5-0 team does not need a perfect schedule to have earned its record, and holding the league's highest-scoring team to 103 points is not a schedule artifact.

The caveat

The caveat: 5 games is 5 games, and Houston's per-game differential is better than Memphis's. What can be said: through 5 games, no team in the NBA has more wins than Memphis and Houston, and Memphis ended the last unbeaten start outside Houston by beating Portland by 21 points.