This time around, the Eastern Conference looks ready to go head-to-head with the Western Conference. With the number of All-Stars growing in the East, it seems that teams will no longer bow down before the West – something Eastern teams did in previous years before even entering the court. Among all these strong teams emerging in the East, which will be the one to dominate the regular season, and will it be the same one to reach the Conference Finals?
Boston take on Brooklyn for the second time in three days as the NBA resumes after a Thanksgiving Day break. A fit-again Kemba Walker scored 39 points on Wednesday night as the Celtics eased to a 121-110 success at home, but the Nets will hope to now gain revenge in front of their own fans.
The Los Angeles Lakers continue to lead the way in the Western Conference and are firm favourites to extend their winning run to nine matches. It has been a more difficult start to the season for the New Orleans Pelicans, who are 11th in the same conference with only six wins from 17 matches.
Milwaukee will aim for their sixth successive win when they host the struggling Portland Trail Blazers. The home fans will be expecting to see a dominant Bucks side, who sit in second place in the Eastern Conference ahead of just their fifth match at the Fiserv Forum and have won nine of their last 10 games.
Chances are, if you’re into basketball, that you know all about the NBA All-Star weekend game, but in case you don’t, here’s a brief summary. Taking place each year just before the playoffs, it pits the best NBA players against each other. Although last year saw a change in the institution with Team Lebron competing against Team Giannis, the All-Star used to feature the best players from each Conference putting on display their impressive skills. So, what’s the All-Star game’s significance in this context?
Deontay Wilder’s first clash with Luis Ortiz was a fiery encounter and sparks are again expected to fly during their Las Vegas rematch. Ortiz was put down in the fifth and Wilder was saved by the bell after getting caught in the eighth, before the Bronze Bomber stormed to a 10th-round stoppage.
Kristaps Porzingis will expect a hostile atmosphere when he arrives at Madison Square Garden for the first time since his trade to the Dallas Mavericks from the New York Knicks. The 2015 fourth overall draft pick moved to Dallas on January 31 after requesting a trade, despite being sidelined with an ACL injury.
Los Angeles Clippers will look to continue their fine start to the NBA season when they host Portland Trail Blazers at the Staples Center. The Clippers sit in fifth place after five wins from their opening eight matches and take on Western Conference rivals Portland, who are just adrift at 4-3.
An out-of-sorts Golden State Warriors travel to the Toyota Center against an underachieving Houston Rockets side in an intriguing clash on Thursday evening. Both sides were expected to be among the front-runners in the hunt for the NBA crown, but they have already had bumps in their respective roads during the early stages of the campaign.
The basketball landscape has shifted considerably. NBA has called a timeout on Superteams, and now it’s the time for the ’Super Duos’’ to enter the court. Plenty of exciting pairings are meant to emerge this season, so take a front seat on dramatic plays that may last an eternity.
Flemington will again stage ‘the race that stops a nation’ and we’ve picked out three runners to consider in our Melbourne Cup tips. European raiders have enjoyed great success in recent years, with Rekindling scoring for Joseph O’Brien in 2017 and Charlie Appleby’s Cross Counter obliging last season.
Houston Rockets travel to the Barclays Center as they look to continue their rich vein of form against surprise strugglers Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn came into the season with plenty of optimism after signing marquee players Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan, but have yet to sparkle.
From Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA has always been known for its talented duos. The era of the ‘’Big three’’ is over, perhaps for the first time since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and the dynamic 1-2 punch in basketball is back and better than ever.
The San Antonio Spurs will see their 100 per cent start to the 2019-20 NBA season come under severe threat when they travel to the Los Angeles Clippers for their first road trip of the campaign. The hosts have already seen off arch-rivals the Lakers and title contenders Golden State Warriors.