February 24 Game Previews
WAS @ TOR: In his weekly MVP rankings, Chris Sheridan has Rudy Gay in the top ten. Toronto is 7-3 since the big trade, and not only did Gay beat the Knicks last game with a 32-point star turn, he’s making DeMar DeRozan much better by occupying the opponent’s best wing defender. Kyle Lowry is quite content to set both up. Regular readers know I have also been touting the Wizards, who have won six of eight, but one of those losses was at home to the Raptors last Tuesday. In particular, Bradley Beal is scorching hot.
ATL @ DET: It’s impossible for the Pistons to play as poorly as they did in getting blown out twice by Indiana on the weekend. Meanwhile, the Hawks are soaring again, with a great comeback to beat the Bucks in Milwaukee. Will Bynum is suspended tonight for a low blow on Tyler Hansbrough; most other players and many fans think Psycho T had it coming. Brandon Knight (knee) is questionable. Just maybe, Greg Monroe will be able to slow down Al Horford, but Josh Smith and Jeff Teague are also playing well and until the Pistons show signs of life, they can’t be trusted.
LAL @ DEN: They won a must-win on the road yesterday. Can the Lakers do it again, 24 hours later, at high altitude? Doubtful. Denver has too many weapons and knows how to run opponents into exhaustion. This is certainly the game of the night in both real life and fantasy, likely to be high-scoring and entertaining. Ty Lawson has been one of the ten best players in fantasy hoops for the last month. Danilo Gallinari has been playing with a thigh bruise, and Kenneth Faried has had a couple of quiet games, but I like the Manimal tonight, and the Nuggets’ bench.
BOS @ UTA: Some of the best trades are the ones you don’t make. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap are still in Utah, the team remains very much in the playoff picture and Gordon Hayward has scored 40 points in his first two games back from an injury. This will be the fifth game in six nights for the Celtics, all on the road in the ‘wrong’ time zone. They are a proud, stubborn team, so anything is possible, but the Jazz have won 13 of their last 15 at home and are well rested.