Tax week. Too bad I can’t listing blogging as a deduction. Damn Obama!
Monday: New York Knicks at Golden State Warriors (7:30 PM PST on League Pass)
This week’s Homer Game finds the Warriors sleeping in a bed full of their own waste, and the author of this post taking things way too seriously. Is this what being a fan of a team fighting for its post-season life is like? Misplaced stress? Lost sleep? Snapping at coworkers? Does it involve second guessing everything you’ve seen up to this point? Does it involve grabbing your head and cussing loudly when you commit yet another turnover? Does it involve clearing your social calendar and ignoring your friends for the next seven weeks because every single game counts? Does it cause you to doubt your own humanity, even though both of their stars are out with bum knees? If so, I’ve got this thing down like clockwork.
Tuesday: LA Lakers at Orlando Magic (4:00 PM PST on League Pass)
NBA TV somehow missed this one, choosing the rights to Miami-Atlanta instead of Dwight Howard’s first return to Orlando. So hell yeah, I’m ready to hear the most vicious booing this side of LeBron’s first trip back to Cleveland. Consider this: the Heat were 8-9 when they went to The Q, where the Cavs faithful let LeBron know how they really felt about The Decision. Of course, the Heat marched all over the Cavs, and things have been pretty much gravy since then, for both LeBron and the Heat. LeBron himself has labeled that game as a moment of catharsis, and something that needed to happen for him to truly move on to the next stage of his career. One wonders if that moment has arrived for Dwight and the Lakers, who already are starting to roll.
Wednesday: Milwaukee Bucks at Washington Wizards (4:00 PM PST on League Pass)
This is a pretty nice night of ball. There really are no bad options, no matter where you go. That said, there’s something sort of appealing about this Bucks-Wizards game, which features two of the stranger good-ish teams this year. The Bucks three-headed backcourt just kill teams, and their frontline is defensively nasty (especially OVERANALYZED PLAYER! I mean, Larry Sanders). The Wizards are entertaining as anyone, and still finding ways to win close games with pretty polished-looking basketball. I’ll take this in before I watch the Warriors engineer new ways to disappoint me against the Pistons.
Thursday: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs (4:00 PM PST on TNT)
This Thursday’s TNT slate emphasizes that schedule-making is not an exact science. It’s either Mavs vs Spurs or Knicks vs Blazers. Neither, nor, please. Perhaps we’ll get an old fashioned Dirk vs. Timmy battle, but more likely we’ll get a Cory Joseph vs. Mike James battle. Nooooooo thanks. If you took tonight off, no one would blame you.
Friday: Memphis Grizzlies at Denver Nuggets (6:00 PM PST on League Pass)
The difference between 1-5 and 6-9 in the West is considerable. Case in point: Grizz vs Nuggs, aka, the current 4-5 matchup if the postseason started today. There may be no pivot better than Marc Gasol, who’s upped his scoring, rebounding and passing for the stretch run. He’s also shooting 87% from the charity stripe. Wowzers. He’ll have his hands full with Manimal and McGee, certified havoc creators.
Saturday: Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio Spurs (5:30 PM PST on League Pass)
Lots of offerings on the day, but none of them really excite me. It’s like the old days, when you’d peruse the “New Releases” section of Blockbuster, and just see suck as far as the eye can see. Cavs/Spurs is your equivalent of renting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the 77th time since 2003. Yeah, you’d rather not pay to see a movie that comes on TNT four times a week. But it’s Saturday night, you’ve got no life, and you know how this one ends.
Sunday: Miami Heat at Toronto Raptors (10 am PST on League Pass)
A true Hangover Game this week. At this point, the Heat may be going for their 22nd straight win, while the Raps try (and fail) to play spoiler. That game should wrap up right in time for the ABC affair. My fear is that I’ll fall asleep during the Hangover Game and miss the national contest. Perhaps I’ll get the hour of sleep that I lost back.