Believe the hype

We're less than a week into the 2008/09 season and despite some surprises - Ron Artest breaking up a fight, Minnesota making .500 and the Spurs struggling - some things haven't changed. The Hornets, Lakers, Jazz and Rockets have lived up to the hype and are perfect, Mr Lottery Ricky Davis is stinking it up and Greg Oden (left) is injured. We discuss the latest events in the league in the first of our weekly NBA Breakdowns.

Perfect start

As well as the unbeaten Western conference superpowers; Toronto, Detroit and Atlanta have also yet to lose. Maybe the most noteworthy of the group are Chris Paul's New Orleans Hornets. The three win wins are impressive - away at Golden State and Phoenix and then at home to LeBron's Cavs - and they have done it with injuries to key players. Tyson Chandler has missed two games and Peja Stojakovic one. Despite these injuries Paul has shown no signs of a slow start and David West has been as prolific as ever, while new boy James Posey and veteran Rasual Butler have played vital roles. The Hornets have more depth this year and if everyone stays fit they will be as good as anyone in the league.

The Jazz have overcome Deron Williams' injury to start with two wins and will look to keep their perfect start this week with games at the Clippers and at home to the Blazers and Thunder. Carlos Boozer has been his usual self and Andrei Kirilenko has settled in well to his sixth man role.

Kobe's Lakers have looked very strong, with Andrew Bynum slowly working his way back into the team and Jordan Farmar performing better than ever. Houston recorded a big win over San Antonio and have also beaten the Grizzlies and the Thunder, with Ron Artest already looking content in his new home. They face a challenge on Tuesday when they host the Boston Celtics.

For the other unbeatens it is business as usual in Detroit, Joe Johnson has been superb for Atlanta and Jose Caledron and Chris Bosh both look set for good seasons.

New faces in new places

Three big losses for the Clippers mean Baron Davis, as predicted, must be wondering why he went home. The voodoo doll Davis must have of Elton Brand has not worked just yet - Brand leads the league in rebounds with 14.3 through his first three games – although his Sixers have struggled. They are 1-2 and still don't appear to have an out-and-out scoring threat.

Jermaine O'Neal has seen some of the end of the game playing time go to Andrea Bargnani in Toronto, partly due to foul trouble, and he looks unlikely to fill a stat sheet the way he did in his All Star days.

TJ Ford, who went from Toronto to Indiana in the O'Neal trade, has not had a huge impact yet either. The point guard's slow start has been helped by the in-form Danny Grainger, who was important in the Pacers’ surprise win over the Celtics last night. While in Milwaukee Richard Jefferson has yet to shine.

The recession?

The elderly Spurs are missing the Argentinian superstar Manu Ginobili. Despite great numbers from Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, San Antonio are 0-2. The team lacks any depth past its big three but will no doubt still battle it out to make the playoffs.

With injuries to Agent Zero and Antawn Jamison in Washington perhaps their 0-2 start isn't surprising; fitness will be a key issue for this ultra-talented team.

The rooks

He was injured during much of his one year at Ohio State University, he missed the whole of his first year in the NBA through injury and so no-one can be surprised the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft Greg Oden is again injured. He’ll be out for up to a month.

Impressive rookies so far include the battling Kevin Love (Minnesota) and Derrick Rose (Chicago) while Rudy Fernandez managed 20 points last night for Oden's Blazers.

NBA on Five: Cleveland 85 - 90 Boston

An emotional Paul Pierce was the star of the show as Boston began the defence of their title with a win. In a scrappy game it was the finals MVP who really stood out regularly blowing by LeBron. He was helped out by Rajon Rondo while Leon Powe and Tony Allen contributed off the Boston bench. Cleveland, with LeBron not quite at his best, looked useful too and will win a lot of games this season with Mo Williams likely to have a positive effect on his new team.

I missed most of Mark Webster and Andre Alleyne because of time constraints and fast forwarded through the half time highlights of the NBA game in London so more to come on Five's coverage next week.

Games to watch

For the benefit of those with League Pass, we preview this week's games to watch. WARNING: Watching the whole game though means staying up to ridiculous-o'clock or sorting your way through League Pass’s very frustrating loop, so this list is only for the NBA’s most hardcore fans.

Tonight: Minnesota at Oklahoma: Only two games on, so take some time out to watch my Wolves. Al Jefferson vs. Kevin Durrant is a matchup of two future All Stars.

Monday: Cleveland at Dallas: LeBron's Cavs are on the way up while the Mavs are on the way down.

Tuesday: Phoenix at New Jersey: Five has the game of the night Boston @ Houston but if you have time check out the first battle of the Lopez twins.

Wednesday: Atlanta @ New Orleans: Two in-form, exciting teams.

Thursday: Houston @ Portland: Can the young Blazers cope with the Big Three?

Friday: Indiana @ Cleveland: How good are the new-look Pacers? We'll find out on Friday.

Saturday: Miami @ New Orleans: Wade vs. Chris Paul.