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Old School Meets New School
The Memphis Grizzlies have been in a rut since star point guard Mike Conley went down due to injury. He is close to returning but it’s unknown if he will be back in time to face the Washington Wizards this week. If so, it will be a huge boost for a group which has fallen to among the worst records in the NBA....
The Miami Heat and New York Knicks are close to each other and on the bubble for Eastern Conference playoff spots, and based on their talent level, could stick around there all year. Each team would love to pick up a win when they face off in a regular season matchup down in Miami this week....
The matchup between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference was going to be a good one anyway. There could be just a bit more intrigue with Isaiah Thomas ready to play after healing all season from a hip injury. Thomas led the Boston Celtics to the conference finals last season before his team was eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The teams swapped superstar guards in the offseason with disgruntled Kyrie Irving heading to Beantown. The Cavs have done well without IT, but he could be what turns them into East champs once again....
The Golden State Warriors have their superstar back. The Houston Rockets just lost theirs. A titanic clash has lost some of its luster because James Harden won’t be available when the Western Conference’s two top teams face off this week....
Just when it started to look like the Oklahoma City Thunder had figured out how to play with their Big Three, they slipped up with a pair of losses following a season-best six-game winning streak. It’s still a big improvement for a team that entered the season with high expectations after acquiring Carmelo Anthony and Paul George to play alongside reigning MVP Russell Westbrook. OKC looks to get back in the win column against a struggling Los Angeles Lakers club that returns home after dropping its last seven outings....
The Oklahoma City Thunder was expected to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference this year, and they are slowly but surely climbing up the standings. The Thunder is now fifth in the West and hoping to at least end up in fourth to get home court advantage in the first round of the postseason....
The Portland Trail Blazers have been one of the better home court teams over the past several years, something that has kept them in contention for the playoffs. But this year the Moda Center has been a house or horrors and the Blazers will take on the Philadelphia 76ers looking to end a six-game home losing skid. Both teams will be well rested with each having multiple days off since their last game, but the Sixers are travelling across the country for the Western Conference swing of a season-long five-game road trip....
The likely competition to dethrone the three-time defending champions in their respective conferences, the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics will meet for the first time on Thursday. Boston owned the NBA’s best record for a good portion of the season thanks to their 16-game winning streak, but things have settled down for the Celtics, who split their last 10 games as they try to hold off the Cavs and Raptors. Houston dropped consecutive games to the LA teams despite getting 51 points from James Harden in each contest....
The Minnesota Timberwolves languished in the lottery for so long, but have picked up their play this season and have the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. If they can keep it up they will finally be heading back to the playoffs....
Every time James Harden returns to Oklahoma City, it’s a reminder that the Thunder gave him away too soon. Harden’s career blossomed after a trade to the Houston Rockets and he will return to his old team on Christmas Day with a group that is looking like one of the best in the NBA....
The Philadelphia 76ers would take a big step forward in their much-maligned rebuilding process if they can make the playoffs this season. In order to do so they will need to leapfrog a few teams along the way. One in their sights is the New York Knicks, so the 76ers would love to pull a game closer with a win when these teams face off this week....
The Boston Celtics have flown out to the top of the Eastern Conference more than a third of the way through the season, but teams like the Cavaliers and Raptors aren't far behind. Boston will aim to keep the pedal on the metal in a big Christmas Day game when they face off against the Washington Wizards....
The old rivals meet again. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors have been the class of the NBA for the past three seasons, as they are the only teams to win a title in that stretch. They are looking like two of the best teams in the NBA once again as they prepare for a huge Christmas Day clash in Oakland....
It’s official. The Houston Rockets are championship contenders. A hot start has been followed up by a lot more winning and the team led by James Harden and Chris Paul is looking like a legitimate threat to Golden State’s spot atop the NBA. Houston has won 14 straight games and has the best record in the NBA, and will aim to pick up another win at home this week against the Los Angeles Clippers....
The Golden State Warriors will be without Steph Curry for another couple weeks at least because of an ankle injury, but that’s not slowing the team down. Despite the absence of the former MVP, the Warriors’ other stars are stepping up and the team continues to cruise....
While the San Antonio Spurs welcomed back their top player, the Utah Jazz watched one of theirs go back on the shelf. Things haven’t been all peachy for the Spurs since the return of Kawhi Leonard, but they are a much better team with the former defensive player of the year on the floor. The Spurs are working Leonard back slowly after he missed the first 27 games of the year and as always Gregg Popovich is looking at the big picture. That view got worse for the Jazz, who saw Rudy Gobert go down with another knee injury, putting him on the shelf for a few weeks....
The Boston Celtics have fallen back to the pack in the Eastern Conference after alternating wins and losses over the past few weeks. Once the king of the NBA after a 16-game winning streak lifted them to the best record in the league, the Cs are dealing with some adversity following losses to Chicago and Utah. The New York Knicks were the second victim in Boston’s long winning streak, but things have changed since then. The Knicks are on a run of their own and they’ve been dangerous at home rece...
One of the marquee games of the early-season schedule will take place this week when the Houston Rockets host the San Antonio Spurs in a Western Conference showdown. Houston has jumped out to the best record in the NBA, and the advanced metrics back up the great start....
The Philadelphia 76ers seemed to be past the rebuilding process early in the year when they got off to a fast start. A losing streak has brought them back down to earth, and they will aim to get back on track in a home matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder this week....
The Golden State Warriors aren’t at full strength right now, and the absence of star point guard Stephen Curry could affect them against some of the elite competition coming up on the schedule. However, the team still has plenty of firepower and there should be no issues in this week’s regular season game against the Dallas Mavericks....
The Cleveland Cavaliers have found their groove after a slow start, winning nine of their past 10 games to shoot back within the top group in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics are off to a terrific start, so Cleveland doesn’t have much margin for error if it plans on overtaking them. The Cavs will aim to stay hot when they host the Los Angeles Lakers this week....
A matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks used to be the highlight of the NBA schedule. Not so much lately since the teams have been scraping the bottom of their respective conference the past few years. The teams played for the NBA title three times in four years back in the early 1970s and LA’s first title since relocating to SoCal came at the expense of the Knickerbockers. That was a long time ago and both clubs are just looking to have a winning record for the first time since the 2012-13 season....
In the middle of a five-game homestand, the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to gain some separation at the top of the Northwest Division when they entertain the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. Given the recent history of poor play from both teams, a national television audience has been out of the question. But the teams have collected some quality young stars over the years and both are making noise in their respective conference while garnering attention at the national level. It’s enough to have this game on the worldwide leader....
The Houston Rockets have raced out to the best record in the NBA and will aim to keep it going this week. They should be sizable favorites when they host the Charlotte Hornets in a regular season matchup....
The Indiana Pacers looked like they were going to be in rebuild mode when they sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason. Instead, Oklahoma City is the team struggling to find its footing....
