Monday, November 1st: Spurs @ Clippers, 10:30 ET, FSSW FSPT.
There’s only three games today, and to be honest, none of them really jump out at me… so once again I’m going to roll with a Clippers game simply because of Blake Griffin. Blake has looked awesome, but as a team the Clippers have looked pretty bad (Hold up, I’m being way too generous… they’ve looked terrible.) through three games. They seem to have more than their share of possessions where they will waste most of the shotclock doing a whole lot of nothing, then the guy with the ball realizes he better make something happen, and a highly-contested shot gets tossed up at the buzzer. I know what you’re thinking, that doesn’t sound like it will be any fun to watch at all… well the other choices are Portland vs. Chicago and Sacramento vs. Toronto. How the hell am I supposed to make any of these games seem interesting?
Tuesday, November 2nd: Grizzlies @ Lakers, 10:30 ET, NBATV, SS, FSW.
The Grizzlies will be coming off two consecutive wins (a close victory over the Mavs and a blowout win over the T-Wolves) so they’ll be feeling nice and confident as they try to knock off the defending champs. The Grizzlies won 40 games last season, and now that all of their young talent has returned with another year of experience under their belt, they should be competing for a playoff spot out West. If recent history is any indication, this game has a 66% chance of being a close one, because two out of three times these teams played last season the game was decided by two points or less. The other game? It came during the Allen Iverson expirement, so it doesn’t even count. I think this will be a good one.
Wednesday, November 3rd: Grizzlies @ Warriors, 10:30 ET, SS CSBA.
I’m taking the Grizz back to back! I’m sorry, but whenever a talented and athletic team such as Memphis plays the Warriors it’s must-see TV for me. If you’re one of those stubborn purists who pretends not to be excited by high-flying-stat-stuffing-run-and-gun action, well, you should probably just refrain from visiting my blog, because I’m like Master P when it comes to that type of stuff: I’m ’bout it ’bout it! I can’t believe I’m really going to publish that.
Thursday, November 4th: Thunder @ Blazers, 10:30 PM ET, TNT.
Two of the Western Conference’s better teams will be playing in front of the great fans at Portland’s Rose Garden in this nationally televised affair. Both teams have a good perimeter defender to match up with the other guy’s superstar, that tends make things more interesting. I like the point guard matchup of Andre Miller and Russell Westbrook. Miller will be his usual crafty self, taking Westbrook to the post where he has a size advantage, trying to out-smart the young fella. Westbrook will be trying to take advantage of his far-superior athleticism, he knows Miller can’t stay with him in transition.
Friday, November 5th: Bulls @ Celtics, 8:00 PM ET, ESPN.
There, I finally chose a game that you East Coasters will be able to stay awake for. It’s Rondo vs. Rose. It’s former C’s assistant and current Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau’s first game against his old team. It’s Brian Scalabrine’s return to Boston (that’s what really sold me on this game). The Bulls are supposed to be rising up the ranks in the East this season, and this game will be their first test. Carlos Boozer will be missing, but if Chicago wants to be viewed as a legit squad, they’ve got to fight through that and bring it anyway. I expect Derrick Rose to be aggressive, I expect Joakim Noah to be fired up, and I expect the Celtics to be the Celtics that show up for big games, not the Celtics who play down to their competition and lay an egg vs. the LeBronless Cavaliers (I’m not going to allow my Celtic fan friends to live that down easily). If this game happens to be a dud, think back to when these teams played in the ’09 playoffs and forgive me, because the great memories forced me to pick it.
Saturday, November 6th: Nuggets @ Mavericks, 9:00 PM ET, ALT FSSW.
If Carmelo is no longer in Denver by the time this game arrives, assuming he got traded for rebuilding-type pieces, forget about it. I figure Carmelo’s still going to be present, so this is my choice. I’m not as enthusiastic about watching the Nuggets as I have been over the past two seasons because I figure the injuries and trade talks will eventually destroy them, but as of now they’re still a good team. Al Harrington was a great addition, their bench now has tons of offensive punch between him and JR Smith. I can’t think of another bench in the league that can present two scorers with the explosive capabilities of Al and JR. Lastly, there’s the Kenyon Martin vs. Mark Cuban storyline! K-Mart will still be out with the knee problems, but I don’t see that stopping him from screaming profanity-laced insults at the Mavs owner who everyone loves to hate.
Sunday, November 7th: Blazers @ Lakers, 9:30 PM ET, CSNW, FSW.
I’d be even more sold on this one if it was in Portland. That’s not the case, but it should still be a good one. Kobe Bryant has stated that Brandon Roy is his toughest matchup. The Blazers always seem to give LA a run for their money. Portland has actually won four of the past five matchups. One of the craziest Kobe games I have ever seen (65 points) came against Portland back in 06/07. I remember watching Shaq battle Sabonis back in the day when according to me Rasheed Wallace was the best thing since sliced bread. Portland/Laker games are just good, fact! Watch and see.
