By: Andrew Brown
Monday 29, 2024
Celtics vs Pelicans 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, the Celtics strength is having Tatum and Brown arguably the best duo in the NBA it’s hard to stop them their weakness is their bench the Celtics rank last in the NBA in bench ppg. The Celtics will win because of their players and how good they are coached. For the Pelicans they have Zion, their best player who’s averaging 22 ppg. If they want to win they need to limit their turnovers and keep getting steals which they are third in the NBA in.
Suns vs Heat 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Suns, the Suns have a really good perimeter offense and rely on that shot. Everyone on their team can shoot and are a dangerous team when they are hot and healthy. The Heat might have found the player they needed recently trading Lowry for Rozier from the Hornets. I would pick this team to win but they just can’t score on offense rankings 20th in ppg.
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Tuesday 30, 2024
Laker vs Hawks 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Hawks, Dejounte Murray has been what the Hawks needed when they got him, a second star behind Trae Young. Averaging 22 ppg they now are probably more hesitant in trading him. As for the Lakers who are trying to acquire him they need some work on their bench. Once their starters come out there are no names on the court which requires the starters to play more. The Lakers are also good at getting stars and making them worse and trading
young players who end up as stars.
76ers vs Warriors 10:00
Who’s going to win: 76ers, The Warriors have no big man to compete against the big man Embiid. Not only do they have no big man, they have no defense at all, ranking 27th out of 30 teams in the NBA. Plus players don’t want to be on the team. For the 76ers, Embiid just recently coming off a scorching 70 point game along with 18 rebounds. Only 9 players in NBA history have scored 70 plus points. The warriors will have to pack the paint which will lead to a lot of 3s
from the 76ers which they are good at.
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Wednesday 31, 2024
Pistons vs Cavs 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Pistons, The pistons have to win at some point. I think they’re going to win and turn this team into the right direction. The pistons will obviously be making moves to rebuild and get some players or picks. I think the Cavs will have one of those nights and play their worst game of the season but will still be close.
Bucks vs Trail Blazers 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Bucks, with their new head coach Doc Rivers, expect their defense to be a lot better. Even though they’re 31-13 they rank one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. The Trail Blazers are just getting started doing big trades in the offseason and getting Scoot Henderson with the 3rd pick. The future is bright for this team.
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Thursday 1, 2024
Lakers vs Celtics 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, the two biggest rivals in the NBA going head to head. With both teams having the same amount of chips (18), this game just means more. The last time they played was on Christmas in which the Celtics won by 11. The Celtics starting 5 combined 108 points out of 126 points with the leading scorer being Porzingis with 28. The Celtics should easily win this with all their talent. The Lakers starting lineup will not be able to handle the
Celtics starting 5 and it should look the same with the Celtics starters scoring much of their points.
76ers vs Jazz 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Jazz, This team is young with their best player being Lauri Markkanen who’s average 24ppg. This team leans on their young players like George, Agbaji, and Kessler who are both good defenders and scores. They will win because of their grit. If they can beat them once they can beat them twice. For the 76ers the last time they played they lost by 11 and Markkanen and Sexton combined for 55 out of their 120 points. Embiid also didn’t play so that’s
also a big reason why they lost. It should be a close one this time.
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Friday 2, 2024
Warriors vs Grizzlies 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Grizzlies, The last time these two teams played the injured grizzlies embarrassed the heathy Warriors on live TV leaving the Warriors with many questions. In that same game the rookies GG Jackson and Vince Williams combined for an impressive 47 points with the leading scorer being Vince Williams. The Warriors looked like they didn’t care about that game, letting two rookies who barely played the whole season cook them. Hopefully they can actually play defense and get back on track.
Magic vs Timberwolves 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Timberwolves, the Wolves have the best defense in the NBA thanks to the big men KAT and Gobert (who are both 7 feet tall). This team is just so big and tall (except for Conley) that it’s almost too easy to score, especially down low. The Magic are another young team with their best player being the power forward Paolo Banchero averaging 23 ppg. At the
start of the season they were looked at as the conference contenders. They were even the number 3 seed in the east, but since then they’re 7-14. If they want to win we need to see the team that we saw at the start of the season.
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Saturday 3, 2024
Bulls vs Kings 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Kings, Last season the Kings went to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons, one of the longest playoff droughts in sports history. Even though they made the playoffs they were first round exits. But now this season they’re looking for more. As for the Bulls, if they keep playing like this they won’t even make the play-in tournament. They need to trade, rebuild, and hope for a better future.
Lakers vs Knicks 8:30pm
Who’s going to win: Knicks, with the newly added OG Anunoby they’ve gotten better offensively and defensively. Since the trade they have been 11-2 with dominating wins over the top teams in the NBA. Jalen Bruson has also been on fire lately and I bet he’s frustrated that he got snubbed from the NBA all star starters list. Last time the Lakers played this team Lebron had a triple double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. AD and Austin Reaves combined for
52 points, other than that no one else had over 10 points. If they want to win they need other players to contribute more than 9 points.
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Sunday 4, 2024
Clippers vs Heat 6:00pm
Who’s going to win: Clippers, with all their super stars. Ever since the James Harden trade they have been better. They now have a guy who can just score when PG or Kawaii is out. For the Heat who lost the last time they played they’ve also gotten a new guy, Rozier. A young point guard that can do anything offensively. A player who can take the stress off of Butler on offense.
Another player who has taken off some stress is the rookie Triple J has been having a wonderful rookie campaign. Averaging 14 ppg, he is one of the best rookies in his class and is close on the ROTY (Rookie Of The Year) list. They will need to lean on both Roizer and Triple J to win this.
Raptors vs Thunder 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Thunder, their young star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading them to a number 1 seed in the west. This team came out of the blue, last year they had a losing record with 40-42 in 10th place. Now they’re 31-13. This all round team is top 10 in both defensive and offensive ppg rankings. For the Raptors this is the first look at this team. They have been heavily in rebuild mode trading away 2 of their best players in return for 5 role players, 3 first
round picks, and a second round pick. This team is trending up.
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