Monday, November 29th: Hornets @ Thunder, 8:00 ET, FSOK CST
Two of the better teams in the West, both coming off tough losses. I expect both squads to come out hungry for a W. Chris Paul, the NBA’s best PG (that’s right!), will have to deal with Russell Westbrook. Westbrook has been absolutely tearing people up all season long, we’ll see if he’s able to make CP3 a victim.
Tuesday, November 30th: Pacers @ Kings, 10:00 ET, FSIN CSCA
There’s a severe lack of interesting games on this particular night. I myself will probably roll with San Antonio and Golden State, but the way the Warriors have played lately I can’t recommend them to others, especially not against the league’s best team. Sacramento has been bad lately, losing nine of their last ten. Of those nine losses, though, only three were by 10 points or more, and two of those came against good teams in Chicago and Utah. Sacramento should be able to compete with Indiana, especially if the Pacers are clanking the long ball.
Wednesday, December 1st: Magic @ Bulls, 8:00 ET, SUN CSCH
Dwight Howard has come into this season with a much improved offensive game. Time for him to test it out against one of the league’s other top big men. Joakim Noah is one of the few guys in the league who can even come close to competing with Dwight physically, so I’m interested to see how Dwight fares. If he can create good looks in the post against a great defender in Noah, that would be yet another encouraging sign that he’s really made a drastic improvment. I heard Carlos Boozer was supposed to be back in practice now… maybe he’ll be back for this one.
Thursday, December 2nd: Heat @ Cavaliers, 8:00 ET, TNT
Who would’ve thought that this may actually be a pretty good game? Who would’ve thought that it would be more frustrating to be a Heat fan than a Cavs fan right now? Anyway, this is obviously the game of the week. I expect Cleveland to come out playing like their lives are on the line. Will LeBron’s emotions get the best of him, or will he go beast-mode on his former squad? Be there.
Friday, December 3rd: Bulls @ Celtics, 8:00 ET, ESPN
Celtics/Bulls games just seem to be a safe choice these days. I picked this exact matchup a few weeks ago and it worked out well, as Boston took the November 5th game 110-105 in OT. Derrick Rose is balling like an MVP candidate, we’ll see if he and his squad can get some revenge.
Saturday, December 4th: Hawks @ Heat, 7:30 ET, SS SUN
Two of the most disappointing teams in the league face off in South Beach. Atlanta is terrible against teams that are any good. As I type this they still haven’t beaten a team with a record any better than .500. Fortunately for them, the Heat may not be .500 by the time this game rolls around. One thing’s for sure: there will be a ton of athleticism on the court, and I’m expecting some top-notch highlights. I want to see a LeBron James vs Josh Smith confrontation at the rim. I think we would all enjoy that.
Sunday, December 5th: Clippers @ Blazers, 9:00 ET, FSPT CSNW
The weekly Blake Griffin game. If good teams is what you want there’s a Spurs/Hornets rematch at 7. Knock yourself out.
