NBA: Where Torn ACLs happen

There's nothing sadder in the NBA right now than the Rajon Rondo news. Rondo tore his ACL in the 2nd OT against the Hawks on Saturday. He went from all-star game starter to intense rehab for the next 10-12 months. This is going to have many effects on the league

• The Celtics are irrelevant as far as the championship goes for the next year or two
• Kyrie Irving will probably get the start for the all-star game
• Brook Lopez will also get in as a reserve
• KG or possibly pierce may be traded
  • If the trade happens, the person would likely be traded to the western conference, therefore affecting the Western conference Playoff race
• Everyone who has Rondo on their fantasy basketball team just lost their number one assist guy
• The Point God spot in the east is currently in the Central Division, belonging to Kyrie Irving. This will be true at least until Derrick Rose comes back (also from an ACL tear)

 

Games for the week (All times MST)

Tuesday

GS @ CLE LP 5PM

If you've noticed a Golden State bias on this blog recently, I'm guilty as charged. Last year when the season was in mid swing, Golden State was my favorite league pass team. They weren't good, but dynamic between the defensively minded coach, Mark Jackson, and the offensively gifted but defensively challenged team was interesting. On the other hand, Kyrie Irving, the point guard for the Cavs and the number one draft pick, was a player who I was skeptical of because of his injury history. The Cavs still struggle, but Kyrie makes them an interesting team to watch.

Wednesday

MIA @ BKN ESPN 6PM

Bosh was picked over Brook Lopez for the all star game. Now Lopez should have an opportunity to prove the voters wrong, mostly because I agree that they were.

CHI @ MIL LP 6PM

More Central Division basketball, mostly because the teams here can be so frustrating. I have a strong feeling that one of these teams is going to give one of the teams at the top of the conference hell in the first round of the playoffs.

Thursday

MEM @ OKC TNT 6PM

Out of the western conference matchups, I really enjoy the matchup of former Pacific Northwest franchises (The Memphis Grizzlies used to be in Vancouver and Oklahoma City used to be in Seattle). They play each other really well and the triple overtime classic they had 2 years ago still qualifies as the game that made OKC a serious contender. They have most of the same important pieces (barring Vasquez and Harden) and they play each other very close. Can't wait.

Friday

MIA @ IND ESPN 5PM

I haven't given either of these teams the respect that they deserve this year. So here it is. They play each other in a rematch of the series that would have changed Lebron's legacy forever had Miami lost.

Saturday

NO @ MIN NBA TV 6PM

It feels weird recommending them for anything, but I couldn't be more excited to watch this matchup. A lot of youth. A lot of exciting players.

UTA @ POR LP 8PM

I enjoy watching both of these teams. Weekend matchups are usually awful, but these teams are actually decent.

Sunday

The NBA knows that that this is Super Bowl day. They have made it clear that they have no intention of competing against the NFL on Super Bowl Sunday. The matchups today are pretty dreadful on paper (LAC @ BOS, LAL @ DET, MIA @ TOR) and they are all early games. If you don't care for football, find something else to do. Get a hobby, make it date night for you and your significant other, just do anything else.

NBA: Where Free League Pass Happens

This week, NBA League Pass is free. This has been done largely as penance for a generally weak slate of games with two amazing games in Boston (Of course, neither of them will be available to league pass users)

Suggested watching

Tuesday

OKC @ LAC LP 8:30PM

As CP3 recovers from injury, he gets the pleasure of dealing with Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha. You may recall that Chris Paul misses the days when “point guards used to guard point guards”. We’ll see how that goes.

Wednesday

DEN @ HOU NBA TV 6PM

Two mid-tier teams in the west.  Both teams like to score and score often. Also the first part of a double header.  

OKC @ GS NBA TV 8:30PM

Day 2 of the "OKC plays slightly injured point guard" trip

Thursday

NY @ BOS TNT 6PM

On this special week where we commemorate the great voices in our nation we have this match up. I too have seen the mountaintop and on that mountaintop I heard a voice. What began as a whisper soon carried across to TD Bank Garden in Boston. It was there that the voice became a roar, and an entire crowd of people together yelled “HON-EY NUT CHEE-RI-OS”.

Friday

GSW @ CHI LP 6PM
BKN @ MEM LP 6PM

All of these squads are in the second tier of teams in their conference. They are fringe contenders if all of their pieces are healthy. They all have very similar records as well, which should be very helpful.

Saturday

LAC @ POR LP 8 PM

I recommend these teams a lot, for good reason. They are fun to watch and are likely to have an “I can’t believe that just happened” moment.

Sunday

MIA @ BOS ABC 11AM

Remember when Miami went to Boston last year in the Eastern Conference Semis? Remember when Lebron went off and began a reign of terror that began in Game 6 in Boston? Remember when Ray Allen became a free agent and went down to that hated team. There’s a reason why this game is on free TV. ABC isn’t going to outsource a game of this magnitude to ESPN.

OKC @ The other LA team that’s not the clippers.  ABC 1:30

Kevin Durant dropped 52 points on a team last week. I’m predicting part two is going to happen.  On paper, the Thunder are a bad matchup. In practice, they are a team that is below .500 and can’t beat teams that they are supposed to beat. Who’s going to guard Durant again? I’m just asking. And that’s before we factor in the fact that Westbrook dominates this squad. 

NBA: Where Bonding with your little sister Happens

                I have been away from my blog for a while. Over the last month, I studied for finals, took finals and eventually went home for a much needed break. When I went back to New York, I noticed my sister is now a huge New York Knicks fan. I knew that she watched basketball occasionally, but there was something different. Before I left New York, if I was watching a game, she’d occasionally watch it with me. Now she cares. When the family discussed what time we’d have Christmas dinner, she wanted to be sure that it was after the Knicks game was over.  A couple of days later, when the Knicks played against Portland she disappeared to her room to watch it when the game came on. She has the NBA Gametime app now, so she knows the Knicks schedule.

                I have spent little time considering what becoming a sports fan entails. Prioritizing sports over other recreational activities comes to mind. The way you begin to discuss the games that are played. Before, she just cared about who was winning and losing during the game, and after the game she cared about the outcome. This time around, she started speaking in stats. “The Knicks are undefeated at home”. Rather than talking about the team, she started discussing individual players and how they contributed and failed to contribute. She started discussing the pros and cons of Carmelo being there. Actually that was misleading. There are no “cons”, because she loves Carmelo Anthony.   As someone who has been a fan of sports for as long as I can remember, I forgot what the progression from casual observer to engaged fan is like. Still, she had some questions about the rules, like why people took different amounts of foul shots after plays. Eventually those questions will become even more nuanced. As someone who lives and breathes sports, and blogs about it occasionally (meta), it was a fun week, and it allowed me to bond with my little sister.  

Normally, the first thing I write is about the games of the past week, but I haven’t written anything serious in a month or so, so that will be back next week. That and I’ve already done the pre-requisite Honey Nut Cheerios joke.

Upcoming Games to Watch.

Tuesday

LAC @ HOU League Pass 6:00 PM

2 out of the 3 biggest trades were the Chris Paul trade and the James Harden trade. Both teams went from middling fringe playoff contenders to serious contenders. Both of these teams are fundamentally sound and aesthetically pleasing to watch. Chris Paul is a consistent ball hawk which should present problems for Houston. Houston likes to win games by scoring an obscene amount of points which also makes them fun to watch.

POR @ DEN NBA TV 7:00 PM

I was worried about these teams before, but now I really enjoy watching them play. This should be a fun contest. Both are teams who have a recent history of great GM moves which will show up in the game.

Wednesday

MIA @ GSW ESPN 8:30 PM

Are the Warriors a really good team or are they just a 1^st round out squad that is playing a bit better than they should be. Playing against the Heat is a good measuring stick for anyone involved.

MEM @ SAS LP 6:30 PM

Do you know what’s not aesthetically pleasing? Watching the brawl between these two defensively talented squads isn’t. On the other hand these two teams are talented and the game will hopefully be a playoff preview. Mostly because I enjoy watching defense, but also because they are fundamentally sound teams with solid head coaching.

BKN @ ATL LP 5:30 PM

Brook-lyn. Brook-lyn. The most important thing about this game is that it is the return of Joe Johnson to Atlanta, where he collected one of the best paychecks in basketball.

WAS @ SAC LP 8 PM

Both teams are terrible, yes. But these teams have turned being terrible into an art form. They draft and trade for redundant players, their head coached often appear to be dazed and confused, and the both are where careers go to die. On a positive note, Bradley Beal has played well for the Wizards and John Wall is back.  On a positive note for Sacramento, the Kings probably won’t be there for much longer.

Thursday

NYK @ DET NBA TV 1 PM

Of course the week that I decide to talk about the Knicks and how much my little sister loves them, they play one day in the week, and they play in London at 3 PM EST. Even worse, they are playing against the sordid Detroit Pistons. This isn’t exactly a game that I’d go home early for. London deserves better.

Friday

CHI @ BOS  ESPN 5 PM

There aren’t many good rivalries in the NBA, the Bulls and Celtics have one of them.  The point guards hate one another. The Big Men are amongst the best agitators in the entire league. The games are extremely chippy. Oh and it’s nationally televised. Even without Derrick Rose, this still should be a great game.

Saturday

MIL @ POR LP 8 PM

Saturday has a generally weak slate of games, but I like watching Milwaukee ’s band of just under the radar players play against Portland’s band of just under the radar players.

Sunday

OKC @ DEN LP 8 PM

Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Serge Ibaka playing in altitude would be enough for the recommendation. I think both teams will be solid.  

NBA: Where Honey Nut Cheerios Happen

Kevin Garnett's favorite early-morning treat

Normally these posts are longer and they will be starting next week. I took a writing break over the holidays, but I plan on doing one NBA post a week for the rest of the regular season.

Wednesday
6PM
MIL @ CHI League Pass
Love watching the Central Division matchups. The Central division should be the best of the Eastern Conference divisions.
LAL @ SAS ESPN
Nothing to say here. The Spurs are better than expected and the Lakers are much much worse. I’m probably going to skip this one. But it would be an important win.
MIN @ OKC League Pass
Minnesota is cursed. If healthy, they have the talent to be a mid-seed in the Western Conference. Unfortunately because of the constant barrage of injuries, the squad will not go anywhere but back to the lottery unless they get healthy again. This is also a good game for the OKC Thunder to show that they deserve to be the top seed in the West.
8:30PM
MEM @ GSW League Pass
Watching David Lee against Marc Gasol will be amazing.
Thursday – Nothing to see here
Friday
6PM
SAS @ MEM League Pass
These are two of the top teams in the Western Conference. Both teams can be tough to watch some times but this may end up as a playoff preview. More importantly they’ve battled there before.
8:30PM
OKC @ LAL ESPN
POR @ GSW LP
Why are both of these important matchups on at the same time. Both should be fun to watch. Russ, Lilliard, Curry and Steve Nash all on at the same time. It’s not fair.