It's NBA Monday's Plus Bonus Rants, Analogies and Random Thoughts of Yesterday's Packers-Cardinals Game

Playoffs?!!!!! First a few note's about yesterday's defense optional game. That has got to be one of the most bizarre, craziest games I have ever watched. I did a blog about the first half of the game but didn't have the motivation to do one for the second half. Considering the Packers looked to be headed towards the end of their season, I decided to focus my entire attention on watching the game instead of splitting it between the TV and the lap-top.

In retrospect, not the best decision, a second-half game blog would have made for some entertainment and make an interesting capsule. There were so many did he just make that play moments in the second half, from the 2 tying TDs, to Rackers missing the field goal at the end, to the brief invincibility of we got the coin toss, we got game to the shocking conclusion of the Cardinals winning the game on face-mask no call.

Now that I got that rant out of the way, time to talk about some hoop.

5- Bulls vs. Celtics Thursday TNT

A rematch of last year's first round series which had its share of those, did that just happen moments. With the way the Bulls are playing this year, the action and drama of this game will be more resemblant of the Packers-Cardinals game from Week 17 instead of the wild card game. Well, unless the Celtics let the Bulls go up by 35, then it might be interesting.

4-Suns vs. Hawks Friday ESPN

Those pesky Phoenix teams. Bizarre, today is the back end of the back-to back series between teams from Wisconsin and teams from Arizona. The Suns-Bucks game is in progress as I am writing this now. The Suns were up 21 after one (the Cardinals were up as much as 21) and the Bucks are making a furious rally (down 3 in the fourth) sorta like the furious rally the Packers made yesterday.

What does this have to about Friday's game? Nothing. Expecting a high-scoring battle between two teams good enough to make the playoffs but nowhere near good enough to win a championship.

3- Jazz vs. Cavs Thursday TNT

The Jazz are in the race for a playoff seed and are slightly off pace. The LeBrons are looking to get over the top. Sadly, I am out of football analogies.....for now.

2-Magic vs. Blazers Friday ESPN

The Magic are looking to get back to the Finals and win their first title after losing to Kobe last year. Blazers fun fact: The Blazers nearly beat the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals one year, they were nearly able to overcome having Mike Dunleavy as a coach, but Dunleavy had a legacy of mediocrity he had to maintain.

1- Jazz vs. Nuggets Sunday ESPN

Gets the slight edge since they play in the same division. The Jazz may be 4th in this 5 team division but are anything but down and out. They may not be in the top-8 right now but only 3 games separates them and the first place Nuggets. Wow, the Western Conference is entertaining right now, only 4 teams with losing records. Hopefully it stays this way at least until baseball season starts.

NBA Games: What's on the National TV Slate for the week ahead

Alright so we are back up to 5 national TV games for the week: How do they stack up on the scale of how much I care:

5- Celtics/Wizards--Thursday TNT

The Celtics are doing their part this year as they are again amongst the elite in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards were supposed to be at least playoff caliber and bounce back under new Head Coach Flip Saunders. At 7-12 this is pacing to be an epic fail. At 7-12 this team probably shouldn't be on national television every other week.

4- Hawks/Bulls--Wednesday ESPN

The Hawks continue to make their case that the elite class in the east should be 4 teams, not 3. The Bulls have been uninspiring this year but since they play in the East, this hasn't really harmed their playoff hopes.

3-Magic/Jazz--Thursday TNT

Went back and forth between this being the #2 or #3 game this week but the Magic are on TV twice this week and play a better team (Phoenix) the other time. The Magic seem destined for another showdown with Boston for conference supremacy (so far this is a dead-lock as both teams are 16-4), the Jazz are 12-8 and seem destined for another season of being good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to be serious contenders.

2-Blazers/Cavs--Friday ESPN

Pretty intriguing match up, the Blazers are still adjusting to Greg Oden being out for the season (i'm sure they wish they would of taken Durant instead) and it will be interesting to see how they adjust to adversity. Despite the Oden blunder, they still have a really good, really young team and this team should break through to the elite in the next few years, with or without Oden.

For the Cavs, just another regular season game, you can pencil them in somewhere in the top 3 regardless of how smooth things go during the regular season. With this team, wake me when its the playoffs.

1-Magic/Suns--Friday ESPN

Out of the five games, this is the most likely Finals preview. The Suns, an expected borderline playoff team, has returned to being one of the elite regular season teams in the West. The Suns have proven as much as they can in the regular season and this is another team that can't really improve their reputation until the playoffs. Just as long as Steve Nash keeps playing strongly, I'll probably be happy about how this game goes.

NBA Preview: Lots of Heat on TV

Another week.....another slate of NBA games on National TV (NBA TV doesn't count since I don't get it).....pretty thin slate of stuff but out of the 4 games.....this is the order of interest I have in these games......

4- Bulls vs. Cavs Friday ESPN

The Bulls are off to a pedestrian start. The Bulls have just lost tonight, snapping the Bucks 4-game losing streak. So far, the Bulls haven't done much to follow up on nearly pulling off the biggest upset of the Playoffs.

The Cavs have sleep-walked to a 12-5 start in their we better win a championship to show LeBron he has the best chance by staying in Ohio.

3- Heat vs. Nuggets Thursday TNT

Dwayne Wade is one of the best players in the league...but the Heat on back to back nights is overkill. The last time the Heat were on TV they lost to an inferior Wizards team.

The Nuggets are in the lead in a competitive Northwest division and will be looking to get some distance from their competition.

2- Heat vs. Lakers Friday ESPN

Two chances to watch the Heat....if you miss them Thursday all you have to do is wait another day.

The Lakers are neck and neck with the Suns in the Pacific and should be in good shape to win playing against a Heat team on the back end of a back-to-back

1- Celtics vs. Spurs Thursday TNT

Out of the four games, this match-up is the most likely to be a finals preview. On an unrelated note, this game is the only one of the four involving a player on my fantasy team (Tim Duncan)......in an attempt to help me get one step closer to going undefeated (5-0) at this point......ahhh the uninspirin-ness of early December NBA Action.....It's Amazing

Well, off to watching more episodes of Reaper (I can always count on Hulu to find a show to get hooked on every few months) and reading the book Baseball Between the Numbers that I got in the mail today.

Counting Down The NBA Games: 11/23 Edition

Alright so I haven't really talked about the NBA too much. I decided to add a new feature where I preview the NBA games that have been deemed worthy enough for national television coverage. I'm going to count the games down based on how interesting I am in the games.

5- Wizards vs. Heat --Friday ESPN

This game looked better a month ago than it does now. The Heat have done their part and started off solid. They haven't been great but so far they at least look to get back to the playoffs. The Wizards were seen as a sleeper team that was supposed to improve with Flip Saunders as coach and a healthy Gilbert Arenas. Then they started 3-9 and look poised to get blown out on National Television. Stay Classy DC.

4-Bulls vs. Jazz -- Thursday TNT

Michael Jordan isn't walking through that door! Scottie Pippen isn't walking through that door! Karl Malone isn't walking through that door! John Stockton isn't walking through that door!

There will be better games...There will be worse games...This game just isn't doin it for me.

3- Heat vs. Magic-- Wednesday ESPN

Worth watching because of their stars (Dwayne Wade/Dwight Howard) but since there is a second chance to watch both teams....this one isn't really a must watch.

2-Magic vs. Hawks --Thursday TNT

Possible Eastern Conference Finals preview. The Magic are at the top as expected and look primed to defend their Eastern Conference Championship. The Hawks have slowly but surely risen from the abyss to become a pretty good team.

Is it just me or does the talk about the Hawks being a surprise team sell them short a little bit. Sure they've started stronger than predicted but it hasn't been a night and day difference. They almost upset Boston a couple years ago, they made the second round last year, they were expected to win about 45-50 this year. Granted, at their rate they look like they'll break through at fight for conference supremacy but its not this team was expected to be a push over.

1- Bucks vs. Thunder --Friday ESPN

This game was a late add for ESPN. The Bucks are definitely the most pleasant surprise in the NBA this year. They were pretty much left dead...predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league and....BOOM Brandon Jennings breaks out...exceeds expectations and proves his skeptics wrong (such as myself)...granted the Bucks got worked by the Spurs tonight but the Bucks have legitimate hope for the first time in a while.

Their opposition is another young team hoping to break into the playoffs (Thunder). They may not be the best team in the league (yet.....check back in a couple years) but they are definitely one of the more interesting team.

Milwaukee and Oklahoma City may not be the biggest markets but the teams have two of the brightest young stars in the league (Jennings and Durant) and this should make for a good Friday Night Match-Up.