Less than a month is what we have left of the regular season in the NBA. Once college basketball decides its champion on Monday, the basketball world will shift its focus almost entirely to the pro game. With an end in sight, teams and players in contention for the postseason need to find balance between finishing strong and burning out. This last month is about staying upright long enough — or getting healthy in time, or maybe bubble-wrapping those who aren’t worth the risk — in the chaos to make it to the organized world of the playoffs.
Friday.
Mavericks at Magic.
After getting batted around again by the Heat last night, the champion Mavericks are still flirting with disaster. Both of these teams seem to employ the “If it’s a blowout, we’re resting everyone and living for another day” method, so let’s hope it stays close.
Grizzlies at Rockets.
Memphis can win the season series with Houston tonight, and with so many teams bunched up at the bottom of the Western Conference, you never know when a season series victory could help.
Trail Blazers at Clippers.
Well, this one used to be all sorts of playoff-implicated; now it just is for Los Angeles, who, after a swoon put coach Vinny Del Negro firmly on the chopping block for the foreseeable future, have won three straight. The idea of the Clippers having a chance to actually not live up to expectations this late in the season means we really have turned some sort of corner, even if those expectations were likely too high, too soon.
Saturday.
Hornets at Lakers.
Day basketball! There’s a chance Eric Gordon, who has missed most of the season, could return to the Hornets lineup Saturday so he can essentially audition himself to a better situation. Los Angeles, home to auditions aplenty, seems as good a place as any to start.
The Final Four.
Unless you’re staying in with direct control of the remote, the Final Four pairings of Louisville-Kentucky and Ohio State-Kansas will probably be on most everywhere with televisions. Come for the four survivors, stay for the finality of it all, and take solace in the fact that the national title game just has to be better than last year’s.
Nets at Kings.
Oh, and there’s also this late night on NBATV, should you have a really dire NBA fix in need of feeding.
Sunday.
Bulls at Thunder.
We’re on record as saying Derrick Rose should definitely not rush his return back to the floor, considering the Bulls’ unwavering dominance. That said, Russ Westbrook and Rose hurling themselves at one another all day wouldn’t have sucked either. Sigh.
Heat at Celtics.
As of now this would be the matchup in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Heat and their first true rivals, their first mountain to climb, right off the bat? The Celtics seem to be preparing themselves for a postseason jolt, and will no doubt take this one seriously — if Kevin Garnett is already firing himself up to unmentionable levels, one can’t help but be giddy when these teams play.
Nuggets at Magic.
Because I just really want the Denver Nuggets in these playoffs. Although, if you named any other team scraping to get in right now, I could probably be talked into their side, too. In the postseason race it is the unattached, casual viewer who is the winner no matter what.
Enjoy the weekend.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
