The week that bridges the gap between 2015 and 2016 features a few flavorful affairs.
Monday, Dec 28
Lakers (5-26) vs. Hornets (16-13)
The Kobe Farewell Tour travels to Charlotte. The city that drafted Bryant only to swap him for Vlade Divac (a solid player in his own right, but come on) has been starved for success during the Duncan Era—at least at the NBA level.
This year’s Hornets stormed out of the hive, apparently ready to sting the world and steamroll its way to honey-comb home-court advantage in the first round. Now that they’ve hit their first speed bump, sending them back towards the middle of the pack, they’ll need to perform well in the next handful of weeks leading up to the All-Star break—as the East is thicker than quicksand while the West is weirdly, mostly water this season.
Be mindful of the Jeremy Lin revenge game. It’s gotta be the hair, right? Lin is likely just as happy as Pacers’ center Jordan Hill, as both were able to jettison the Lakers this off-season—Hill as part of the Roy Hibbert trade and Lin via free agency.
Tuesday, Dec 29
Pistons (17-14) vs. Knicks (14-18)
New York has lost four straight. At 14-18, they appear to be slowly drifting out of the playoff discussion. Detroit has dropped consecutive contests, going 5-5 in their last 10 while slipping out of the postseason picture to enter the week. This is a meaningful matchup for both teams as they look to keep pace in a crowded conference race.
Wednesday, Dec 30
Lakers (5-26) vs. Celtics (18-13)
The Celtics enter the week sitting in the East’s sixth spot, one game ahead of the ninth-placed Hornets and tenth-placed Pistons. Nonetheless, Kobe’s last game on the Garden’s parquet floor makes the list.
Thursday, Dec 31
Wolves (11-19) vs. Pistons (17-14)
Enjoy some Andre Drummond versus Karl-Anthony Towns on the final night of 2015. The Wolves rookie is killing the competition, turning in an All-Star-caliber campaign. Despite Detroit’s recent funk, they remain in the hunt for a playoff spot, led by potential first-time All-Star duo Reggie Jackson and Drummond. The match-up along the wing between Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Andrew Wiggins will be wild. Oh, and if you are looking for some icing on the cake, former Piston Tayshaun Prince makes yet another triumphant return to the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Friday, Jan 1
76ers (2-30) vs. Lakers (5-26)
Philadelphia earned its elusive second win of the season on Saturday versus the Suns in Ish Smith’s debut. Of course, the Sixers earned their first win against the Lakers back on Dec. 1, with Kobe Bryant practically willing Philly to victory with a seemingly never-ending slew of circus three-point shots even Swaggy P might have been rolling his eyes over.
While L.A.’s chances of keeping their top-3 protected draft pick undoubtedly increase with a loss, ceding both match-ups versus the lowly 76ers is a stench the current cast is surely hoping to avoid. Normally I wouldn’t dare to throw three Laker games on this list, but who can resist the hangover hoopla that is sure to ensue in this New Year’s day battle between the league’s two worst teams?
Saturday, Jan 2
Suns (12-20) vs. Kings (12-18)
The Suns are trending towards dumpster fire fast. Markieff Morris is at it again with his antics. After throwing his towel at coach Jeff Hornacek last week while heading to the bench, Morris was suspended two games. Then Eric Bledsoe went down with a torn meniscus against the Sixers on Saturday, and this team could be in free-fall for the rest of the year.
There’s no way to spin Bledsoe’s knee injury being a positive, even though the Suns would certainly benefit more from a high draft pick this summer than another ninth or tenth place finish. The latter may have been the ceiling for this group anyways, but Bledsoe’s history of knee problems makes this a very worrisome ordeal. The injury does open the door for the Suns to play a more traditional backcourt, with rookie Devin Booker set to slide in at shooting guard, Brandon Knight shouldering the play-making responsibilities, and T.J. Warren serving as the super-sub scoring punch behind P.J. Tucker. The Suns haven’t responded well to adversity to say the least, so it will be interesting to see how they fare going forward.
Meanwhile, Sacramento is one of the only NBA teams starving for a playoff berth more than Phoenix. The difference is the Suns haven’t shipped away any of their own draft picks. The Kings may have mortgaged their future selections in hopes of reaching the postseason, yet there remains a solid chance they’ll keep their first-rounder this season. Given the Bledsoe injury, the Kings are the smart bet to take this game—as Tyson Chandler has been abysmal this season, and it’s doubtful he or Alex Len will be able to contain DeMarcus Cousins.
Bucks (12-19) vs. Wolves (11-19)
Giannis Antetokounmpo versus Andrew Wiggins. Yes, please. May I have another? For Michael Carter-Williams, Ricky Rubio serves as an example of a point guard who makes a positive impact with no discernible jump-shot. MCW has been better of late for Milwaukee, who enters the week 12-19 after looking like a herd of deer frozen by the headlights for the first month of the year. The streak-breaking win and even the close-loss versus the Warriors appear to have given the Bucks a big boost in terms of confidence, and it is a joy to watch them fill the lanes, make sharp cuts to the rim, and share the basketball.
Sunday, Jan 3
Blazers (13-20) vs. Nuggets (12-19)
If Damian Lillard plays and Danilo Gallinari doesn’t, this could be a big-time blowout. However, Will Barton playing against his former team will be worth watching, and C.J. McCollum has been cementing himself as the frontrunner for Most Improved Player. Those two undoubtedly went at it plenty in practice over the years, and this matchup just features a bunch of compelling individual battles. The Nuggets’ best chance of winning is if the Blazers can’t keep Kenneth Faried off the glass and Barton goes ballistic.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
