November 13 Games
SAS @ LAL: The game will not be the Laker debut of Head Coach Mike D’Antoni and a return of “Seven Seconds or less” as he is not expected in Los Angeles until Friday. It was one thing for the Bickerstaff lead Lakers to beat up on the Warriors and Kings but the Spurs present a real test. Steve Blake is out, so Chris Duhon and Darius Morris will share the point.
Greg Popovich is starting to rest his veterans with Stephen Jackson getting the day-off on Friday and Tony Parker on Saturday. Your guess is as good as mine as to who will miss this one. Look for Parker and Manu Ginobili to attack the rim. I also expect Tiago Splitter to break 20 minutes for the first time this season.
CLE @ BKN: For the Cavaliers, you have Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao and a bunch of question marks. Hot rookie Dion Waiters was benched for the fourth quarter on Sunday and should come out fired up. Jon Leuer has skipped ahead of Samardo Samuels and even Omri Casspi saw the floor before C.J. Miles. Tyler Zeller (face) didn’t travel to Brooklyn. For the Nets, another potential blowout opportunity after skipping two past the Magic. Gerald Wallace is doubtful and Marshon Brooks is out, so you are likely to get another Jerry Stackhouse sighting.
WAS @ CHA: . Normally, we could skip this one but rookies Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist both breakout on Saturday night and could be looking for more. The game also features two of the biggest PG surprises in Kemba Walker and A.J. Price, neither of whom is known for their defence. I also really like Byron Mullens for my FanDuel teams tonight.
TOR @ IND: Both teams have major questions marks on the wings. On, Saturday Indiana started Lance Stephenson at SG, moved Paul George to SF and brought Gerald Green off the bench. All three played much better. Expect the Pacers get off to a quick start as the Raptors will be both exhausted and dejected after losing last night’s game to Utah, especially DeMar DeRozan. Look for Linas Kleiza to see if he can follow up last night’s explosion. Kyle Lowry will be a game time decision. If he plays, be cautious starting Andrea Bargnani who has looked much better with the pass first Jose Calderon running the point.
NYK @ ORL: Another mismatch as the Knicks are firing on all cylinders whereas the Magic are in … mid-season form? Jameer Nelson is still doubtful though his list of injuries are down to just a hamstring. The air is quickly rushing out of the E’Twaun Moore balloon and the Knick defense should only make the holes bigger. No double-double for Nikola Vucevic against Tyson Chandler but Glen Davis might have one of those games where his stuff just works. Ex-Nugget teammates J.R. Smith and Aaron Afflalo will do battle and my FanDuel money is on Smith.
POR @ SAC: In my weekly preview, I called out this game as a potential blowout for the Kings but that was before DeMarcus Cousins was suspended for the contest. Still, Portland is a very shallow team and put their extra-effort in last night against the Hawks. They are likely to take this one off. Look for the rookies like Meyers Leonard, Will Barton and even Joel Freeland and Victor Claver to dirty their uniforms. The one King who has shown any consistency this season is Jason Thompson and he will get the chance to out-work LaMarcus Aldridge.
Three overtimes was three overtimes too many to be repelled and repulsed by the atrocious audio stylings of Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring. I hate having to watch NBA games with the volume on mute. But I guess those two don’t give a crap how bad they are, just so long as their bosses that pay them to be hollering homer shills are thrilled to death.
Failed to note Nikola Pekovic’s sprained ankle in Minnesota recap. Severity not yet known. Just another injury for the Wolves to overcome.