After a weak slate Thursday, the league comes back with a rather incredible line-up tonight. We'll also have Brett Pollakoff at Mavericks-Suns, Twitterin' away.
HEADLINERS
Boston at Cleveland, 8PM EST, ESPN
It's easy to forget these teams have already met this season. But back in the first week, no one knew the Cavaliers would actually compete with Boston for the top seed in the East. Ta' hell with playoff atmosphere. Given the intensity of the players involved and the stakes, this thing is Armageddon. Need a reminder?
Atlanta at Orlando, 7PM EST
Road warrin' Orlando took Wednesday's game in Atlanta. The Magic run a stellar defense, but the Hawks are the sort of team that gets hot regardless of what you may throw. Joe Johnson (13 on Wednesday) has a knack for finding his attack, and though this looks like the easy one for Orlando on paper, we could be surprised.
Detroit at Denver, 9PM EST
Quietly, Detroit has found something like its stride, winning seven straight before Wednesday's loss in Portland. The Nuggets have conquered seven of eight opponents, and stands at 2-0 during 'Melo's latest absence. This is just a good match-up, even before you get to the "Chauncey Billups meets the Pistons" and "Allen Iverson back in Denver" storylines.
Denver has some inherent advantages in the match-up: A.I. can't guard Billups, Detroit has little to abuse the Nuggets' interior with, lest Antonio McDyess get loose or Jason Maxiell comes out of hibernation. But Carmelo Anthony leaves a crater, and the sometimes brilliant Pistons offense might be able to fill it before Linas Kleiza can.
UNDERCARD
Dallas at Phoenix, 10:30PM EST, ESPN
A main event any other night, the Mavericks and Suns will instead hook up with early playoff positioning in mind. These two are among those fearful of the 9th spot in the West. I'm no Nostradamus, but it seems like either Dallas or Phoenix will be the failure (assuming Carlos Boozer's knee heals by March).
FanHouse's Brett Pollakoff will be the game, and you can follow his thoughts and suggest questions through the NBA FanHouse Live Twitter feed.
Indiana at L.A. Lakers, 10:30PM EST
Mike Dunleavy requests that you do not call it a comeback.
Houston at Oklahoma City, 8PM EST
Thunder haiku? Thunder haiku.
The need for Nenad --Memphis at Toronto, 7PM EST
it's real, but not quite as great
as Durant is long.
Charlotte at Philadelphia, 7PM EST
L.A. Clippers at New Orleans, 8PM EST
Washington at Chicago, 8:30PM EST
New Jersey at Milwaukee, 8:30PM EST
Miami at Sacramento, 10PM EST
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-10-2009 @ 12:44AM
frank said...
After the dismantle of the Celtics recently
Cleveland seems to be the team to beat in the East;
Lebron is the best player in the world right now, so
it is no surprise that they beat the Celtics tonight and
if they secure homecourt advantage Cleveland will be
in the finals this year not Boston, guarantee.
Reply