Tuesday, December 25th: Thunder @ Heat, 5:30 ET, ABC: I’ll be watching this afternoon’s quintuple-header in its entirety, but if I could only watch a single game… I suppose I’d choose this one. Pretty sure you don’t need me to lay out the storyline.
Wednesday, December 26th: Warriors @ Jazz, 9:00 ET, NBALP: The Warriors will be looking to bounce back from their unsettling weekend chokejob against the Lakers, but the Jazz will prove to be no cakewalk in Salt Lake City. Golden State has been a much-improved team on the glass this season, sparking their development into a playoff contender. It’ll be interesting to see how their frontcourt holds up against Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, and Utah’s formidable reserves.
Thursday, December 27th: Celtics @ Clippers, 10:30 ET, TNT: The Celtics are 27th in the league in blocks per game. Hopefully their lackluster defense of the rim will translate into a Clipper dunkathon.
Friday, December 28th: Clippers @ Jazz, 9:00 ET, NBALP: I don’t tend to pick a team twice in a row, especially on the road in their third game in four nights… but I’m trusting that Utah’s hostile environment will bring out the competitiveness in the Clippers. As you may recall, these two teams were involved in a doozy on December 3rd. Hopefully we’ll see something similar on the 28th.
Saturday, December 29th: Nuggets @ Grizzlies, 8:00 ET, NBALP: Assuming the Nuggets don’t go 0-22 from three and 1-32 from beyond 10 feet, this ought to be a half-decent match up. As a matter of fact, the Grizzlies have actually dropped two in a row to the Nuggets. Z-Bo will have to step his game up if Memphis is to avoid a season sweep; he’s averaging just 11 PPG on 40% against Denver.
Sunday, December 30th: Bucks @ Pistons, 7:30 ET, NBALP: The schedulers certainly didn’t work any wonders this Sunday, but I suppose you can consider this an opportunity to catch up with a couple teams that you may not watch all that often. If Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, Larry Sanders, and Andre Drummond don’t float your boat, then there are three similar options to choose from.
