NBA Daily Preview: December 23 (News + Predictions)
News—Los Angeles:
The Clippers won last night, but Chris Paul injured his hamstring (the extent is still unknown). Much of the NBA world expects Los Angeles to survive without Blake Griffin, but the prognosis without their superstar point guard is much bleaker. If Paul misses extended time, the Clippers are in trouble. The most important concern for this team, and their immediate peers, is playoff seeding. It’s almost inconceivable that this team misses the playoffs entirely, but falling to fourth or fifth almost definitively rules out the possibility of the conference finals.
Golden State:
Draymond Green missed some time due to the birth of his son. This isn’t all that uncommon in professional sports (and congratulations to him, by the way), but the Warriors weren’t too far away from losing to the hopeless Brooklyn Nets in his absence. It sounds like Green is coming back soon, and I’m sure he would move heaven and earth to be back with the team by their Christmas Day game.
Predictions:
I correctly picked the Heat winning, but missed the Clippers beating the Spurs last night. That brings me to 5–4 on the week. With no games tomorrow, Christmas Day will be my last slate of predictions for this week (I’ll still have something go up tomorrow). Today, though, there are two games on NBA TV:
Oklahoma City at Boston: Boston
The last time I predicted a game between these two teams, the Thunder won. Boston appears to be coming together, though, and now gets to face OKC in their home arena. The Celtics feel like a slow tide that is gradually shifting toward their full potential. They started slow, but are beginning to come closer and closer to their potential. Player for player, these teams are pretty close to equal, but I like Boston at home tonight.
Dallas at Los Angeles (Clippers): Los Angeles
With Griffin out, and Paul also potentially out, this could be a trap game. Dallas just wrecked Portland not long ago (a team that they’re definitively worse than, despite the Blazers’ struggles), too. However, even without their two stars, the Clippers probably have the advantage at home. I wouldn’t be shocked to look up and see Dallas in the lead tonight, but I think the Clippers are the smart pick here.
