Life = Basketball. I knew I was good at math.
Monday: Philadelphia 76ers at Brooklyn Nets (4:30 PM PST on League Pass)
Basketball fans face some slim pickings to begin the week, so Nets versus Sixers it is. Of course, right after The Diss put out longpieces trying to explain their ills, they slapped us upside the head with the Obvious Stick. Of course a healthy-ish Deron Williams, their lead guard, will improve their team. It makes total sense! After all, this entire thing is sort of built around him. Why didn’t I think of that? Silly me. Anyways, I’m actually banking on this game being sneaky fun, just as long as the Sixers (league leaders in pace at 102.2) don’t run the Nets right out of the gym in the first quarter.
Tuesday: Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets (6:00 PM PST on NBA TV)
It’s a Backup Point Guard slap-fest, without slapping, of course. Despite my argument for Jermaine O’Neal for Sixth Man (who is doing me a solid with that argument by having wrist surgery) it’s gotta be Reggie Jackson. He’s been revelatory off the bench for the Thunder, teaming up with Jeremy Lamb to form a formidable 1-2 scoring punch that few other second units in the league can match. I mean, look: he’s averaging nearly 15 a game for the Thunder in their 8-1 December, and serving as a useful offensive and defensive anchor for the team in general. But how about that Nate Robinson? I’m really enjoying him this season, and so are the somewhat surprising 15-9 Nuggets. The Andrnate Millerson bench backcourt is lots of fun, and Nate himself is averaging about 14 a game in December. If Nate plays well, they typically win. So keep an eye out for this little delight of a game.
Wednesday: Portland Trailblazers at Minnesota Timberwolves (5:00 PM PST on League Pass)
Hump Day can’t get here soon enough, because I am really excited to watch the first bout of LaMarcus Aldridge versus Kevin Love in this young season. LMA continues to get a lot of early MVP buzz, and for good reason: he’s the most important player on the West’s best team. 31 points and 25 rebounds in a win against the Rockets sticks out in the box score; a 2000 Shaq-esque line. Love, meanwhile, had a really nice weekend for the work-in-progress Wolves, including a 42 and 14 night against the Spurs (including a sickening 8-9 from behind the arc). Since both big men will likely cancel each other out, it will be about the supporting casts on this evening. Blazers have been beasting on just about everyone these days; we’ll see if the Wolves can slow them down.
Thursday: San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors (7:30 PM PST on TNT)
The Homer Game of the week is a doozy; a nationally-televised rematch of the 2013 second round series between my beloved Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. At one point, I postulated that the Warriors were developing into a younger version of these Spurs, laden with homegrown talent, smart late-first round picks, international assets, and a developing sense of culture and pride. And despite our recent struggles — we’ve lost 9 of our last 15 — I still think we’re on that path. All of our last 10 games or so have been decided by 5 or less points, and the Dubs are putting themselves in the position to win the game by the end of the fourth quarter. In other words: we’re competitive during a rough patch of the season, and that’s a good thing. But that doesn’t mean that our main problems — turnovers, slow starts in the first quarter, an inconsistent defense and an uneven bench — aren’t a concern. But I’m trying to rememer that they’re short-term issues that can be addressed as the season goes on, not deeper franchise faults that can never be rectified. So I’m trying to look at this game (and really, this week) in a positive light. It’ll be a tough week. But the good teams have to make it through the tough weeks, or else they’re not very good.
Friday: Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets (6:00 PM PST on League Pass)
I won’t lie: as I watched the 14-9 Phoenix Suns dismantle my Warriors tonight, I got a bit jealous. The Suns are the darlings of the league right now; winners of five straight, and the only team that can boast two wins against the Blazers, as well as wins against the Warriors, Spurs and Heat. They’ve got the hottest backcourt in the league right now in Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, and some really incredible depth all the way down to their 11th and 12th men. They’ve got a hotshot former-player coach who has the team loving each other off the court, as well as on it. And they’re overachieving like crazy in the first part of the season. Sound familiar? Seeing another team get all the attention — and beating the ol’ wallflower Warriors in the process — makes me jealous. And spiteful. I know I should be less shallow, but I can’t help it.
Saturday: Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors (7:30 PM PST on League Pass)
Here’s a well-kept secret: even when the Warriors were terrible, Warriors versus Lakers was one of the best rivalries in all of the NBA. There are a ton of reasons for this; the Northern California versus Southern California thing (don’t call it NorCal or SoCal, you’ll look hella dumb if you do), as well as the fact that there are tons of Lakers fans in the Bay, seem to be the main reasons. More than that, there’s some odd history between these two teams; they’ve had some memorable playoff battles in the distant past, and of course, Kobe tore his achilles against the Warriors last year. I’ve had the pleasure of going to a few Warriors/Lakers games at Oracle, and it’s a lot like a boxing match, where the crowd is split 50/50, but both sides are loud and voracious, and intensely behind their fighter in the ring. And for whatever reason, it always seems like the games are instant classics; frequently coming down to the final seconds, and all-too-constantly decided by Kobe Bryant in a last-second blaze of glory. And now Kobe is back. So I’m hoping for another classic; in the Warriors favor, for once.
Sunday: Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers (3:00 PM PST on League Pass)
If you’re into college ball, you’re perhaps a little interested in Brad Stevens return to Indianapolis, where he did all sorts of nutty things as the head basketball coach at Butler University. But I don’t give a shit about college ball, so I’m just excited about watching a Celtics team that seems to really like playing for their coach, and a Pacers team who could give a shit about their youthful energy. This is one of those mirror-image games for sure; the scrappy, Atlantic Division-leading Celtics resemble a younger version of the Pacers, who are looking more and more like the title favorite with each signature win. I’ll be excited to laze around on Sunday afternoon and watch this intriguing matchup between programs that seem to be doing this professional basketball thing the absolute right way.