NFL
By: Greg Rector
Ho Hum Holiday Games
The 5 NBA Christmas Day games were pretty much anti-climactic. The two most anticipated games Celtics/Bucks and Warriors/Grizzlies weren’t even close at all. The best game by far was the finale between The Nuggets/Suns which Denver won in overtime.
I Was Right
The 8 game-winning streak for the Knicks has ended and they have lost three straight. Pascal Siakim (52/9/7) had one of the best games ever by an opponent at Madison Square Garden. DeMar DeRozan then was able to beat the Knicks at the buzzer, and on Christmas Day the Sixers got the job done as well. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets have kept up the wins. Now they are at eight in a row. I said it last week, the Knicks were far less likely to continue winning.
Philadelphia Process
Looks like the Sixers have figured out how to attack with Embid on the floor and when he is sitting. Combine that with playing good team defense and like the Nets they have won 8 straight games. Not which assistant coach or coaches got the x’s and o’s right for Philadelphia, we all know it wasn’t Doc Rivers.
Getting Personal
The bad blood between the Grizzlies and the Warriors didn’t materialize into any physical confrontations, the verbal confrontations though were on fire. I love Ja Morant and his passion, but it got the better of him. The Warriors were laying in wait to have him humbled. The tensions even amongst teammates (Zach Lavine and the Bulls), shouting matches in the locker room, and even during timeouts along with the constant dissing of players by players on social media are getting out of control. I don’t mind being confident in your abilities (Dame Lillard), but do you really think you’re the second-best 3-point shooter ever? What does that even matter when you’re in the midst of the season?
Cleveland’s Kryptonite
The Cleveland Cavaliers sit third overall in the Eastern Conference but have a Toronto Raptors problem. The Cavaliers lost their 3rd straight against the Raptors this season and for the second time, Donovan Mitchell was made a non-factor with just 12 points. In the first game this season it was 9 points. In the middle game, the Raptors did give up 31 points to Mitchell but also shut down the rest of the Cavs. This is something Toronto has done forever, ask the Milwaukee Bucks. Some matchups just don’t go your way.
NBA All-Star Voting
The fans get to speak as to whom they feel should be all-star game starters. Voting started last week. Now since I don’t watch any all-star games in any sport, I sure won’t be voting. When voting ends on January 21st, the inevitable screaming from fanbases about their player being snubbed or this guy doesn’t deserve to be a starter because he doesn’t do this or that as well as someone else. Give me a break. It’s for “entertainment” folks. It’s not life or death. A big reason why I avoid these exhibitions like the plague.
Too Good To Be True
As I feared when the foot injury first happened to Anthony Davis that the initial reports of missing about a month have been proven overly optimistic. He’s now out indefinitely. Davis was playing at an All-NBA level and could have been the DPOY quite easily. It’s going to be very difficult for the Lakers who had been playing better to keep pace without him, and making the play-in games might be a pipedream at this point.
That’s it for this week in the Association. Happy New Year one and all.
