Game-Watching Guide: Week 2 of March

As Spring approaches, the race for the playoffs is heating up. 

Monday

Kings-Pelicans

If you get a hankering for a game with lotto balls at stake, DeMarcus Cousins versus Anthony Davis fits the ball for must-watch basketball. These two crossover kingpins with three-point range aren’t mirror images of one another, but they are certainly similar. Both are incredible talents with inconsistent focus. Still, each has added something significant in every year they have been in the league. Davis still needs to bulk up and prove he can stay healthy before I’d feel totally comfortable putting him up at five full-time, and that’s partially why the Pelicans felt the need to overspend on centers in the offseason. Still, Davis and Cousins will face off more than enough to tantalize those tuning in.

Tuesday

Magic-Lakers

Craving some late-night lottery action and a sizzling matchup at power forward? Kick back and enjoy Aaron Gordon versus Julius Randle. D’Angelo Russell and Mario Hezonja have been playing increased roles lately, and Russell going up against the defensive duo of Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo makes for an exciting show in the backcourt.

Friday

Nets-76ers

Former 76er Thad Young and the Nets make their way to Philly, and both teams will be playing for pride. The Sixers will be trying to break a 13-game losing streak unless they knock off the Rockets on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the Nets have won four of 10 entering the week, and the distance between these two Eastern Conference basement-dwellers is at ten games. If Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel sit out with injury again, we could see Elton Brand face off against a former teammate in Young. Those wondering why to watch if both big men sit out: Richaun Holmes and Jerami Grant are fun in small-ball situations, and Robert Covington has been on fire lately. Ish Smith has also been taking and making more threes over the last couple weeks.

Pistons-Hornets

Looking for a game with playoff implications? Friday night has you covered in spades. With Jimmy Butler making his triumphant return on Saturday versus the Rockets, the Bulls don’t look doomed to the lottery anymore. It’s going to be an amazing race at the bottom of the East, and everything is packed so tight. The Celtics seem like near locks to make the playoffs, and the Heat have won five straight, but the fact remains: there are only seven games separating the tenth-seeded Washington Wizards (30-32) from the third-seeded Celtics (38-26). The Eastern Conference playoff race is turning out to be infinitely more exciting than the West’s, which mind you is still very much unsettled.

Charlotte enters the week in sixth at 33-28. The Hornets have won nine of the last 11 games, and Courtney Lee has clearly helped to stabilize the starting five. P.J. Hairston is still young and maybe one day he will be a decent player, but for a Charlotte team pushing to make the playoffs, it was a huge move. The Pistons were another team that pulled the trigger on a deal at the deadline. Though Detroit has gone 5-5 in the last 10 games and sits ninth at 32-31 entering the week, the Pistons had a convincing victory versus the Trail Blazers on Sunday, and Reggie Bullock has broken out over the last six games in a bench role.

Wizards-Jazz

Both of these teams begin the week on the outside of the playoff picture. The Jazz’s three-out, two-in approach is plaguing the team’s spacing, and the Wizards don’t have enough scoring punch with Bradley Beal at less than 100 percent either. Utah might be in much better shape long-term given the depth of talent, but Washington has the best player in Wall. Playoffs or not, things are looking up in Utah, but it feels like a change might be needed. It just might not make sense to have both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors in the modern NBA, and it’s becoming difficult to trade bigs for smalls. Still, these two have enough talent that they could probably fetch a fair return if the Jazz opt to embrace four-out, one-in offense. That seems like the most likely change going forward since Trey Lyles is also looking like a steal. But as Avon Barksdale and Marlo Stanfield said, “sounds like one of them good problems.” The Wizards, however, have far more questions than answers heading into the final stretch of games.