SAN ANTONIO (FIBA Basketball World Cup/NBA) - There are some who think the NBA season doesn't become interesting until the play-offs, when the title hunt is whittled down to just 16 teams.

There have been plenty of games and eye-opening individual performances so far in the 2014-15 regular season that suggests otherwise.

The latest evidence was turned in on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, where the defending champions Spurs played in a triple-overtime thriller and fell to the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 117-116.

While the NBA has been abuzz about the Splash Brothers - USA national team duo Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson - of the Golden State Warriors and their strong start to the campaign, the Grizzlies have been their equal and the biggest reason why has been the play of one of their FIBA Basketball World Cup players, Marc Gasol of Spain.

Gasol came to the rescue at the end of regulation against the Spurs by nailing an improbable three-pointer.

Just one night after tearing apart the Warriors with a game-high 24 points in a 105-98 Grizz triumph, Gasol poured in 26 and finished a rebound shy of a double-double in the narrow win at San Antonio.

Not surprisingly, Memphis are pushing hard for their big man to play at the All-Star Game.

A little over three months removed from the World Cup, Gasol is averaging a career high 19.6 points per game - well up on his previous high of 14.6, which he averaged in 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2013-14.

Add to that his usual excellence on the other side of the court, and the NBA's 2013 Defensive Player of the Year is right now one of the front-runners for the league's MVP award.

If he were to go on an scoop that honor, he would become just the second non-USA player ever to do so.

Dirk Nowitzki of Germany was the MVP of the league in 2007.

That wonderful season for Nowitzki came immediately after he played at the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan.

There is a long way to go for Gasol to achieve the MVP honor.

Even if he were to continue at his current pace, it might not be enough because so many others have taken their games to new heights after playing at Spain 2014.

Golden State's pair of Curry (23.5 points) and Thompson (21.7 points) have had some mesmerizing displays since stepping off the top of the podium in Madrid, leading the Warriors to their best-ever start to a season.

The Warriors are 21-3 on the campaign.

Could Thompson or Curry be named USA Basketball Player of the Year? 

In Saturday's 108-96 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets, Harden had the third triple-double of his career with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

On Wednesday night, he torched the Nuggets in Denver for 41 points and also handed out 10 assists in a 115-111 overtime win for the Rockets.

He has used that performance as a platform to have his best NBA campaign with averages of 24.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game.

The World Cup has also had a profound impact on Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who was averaging career bests in scoring (23.5 points), rebounding (12.6) and blocks (1.5) before a viral infection forced him to the sidelines in late November.

With Cousins in the lineup, the Kings were 8-5 but since he absence, they have won just two of 10.

FIBA