Non-76er Eastern Conference games to watch this week as history is being made

Including the first must, must, MUST watch of the NBA season.

Say what you want about the NBA Cup, but it felt like the season party started when it walked in. There were some BANGERS of games last Tuesday and Friday: Joel Embiid’s return to the court in an eventual loss to the New York Knicks; Klay Thompson’s return to Golden State in an eventual Stephen Curry takeover; and De’Aaron Fox dropping 60 points in an eventual overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And we’ve got another week of cup matchups with intriguing games both on the special courts and the normal ones. Cleveland is still undefeated and they travel to Boston on Tuesday for what is sure to be a rip-roaring and narrative-fueling game. That’ll make all the headlines but historic individual happenings and struggling wanna-be contenders are upcoming too.

Like the past weekly previews, there’s one game a night. So, strap in, get the snacks ready, and beg for TV time on Tuesday night.

Nov. 18: Atlanta Hawks @ Sacramento Kings
De’Aaron Fox scored 109 points total in his last two games. Excluding Wilt, that’s the second most-ever points on consecutive nights. He is historically hot as he’s carrying his Kings to stay competitive in the season’s early stages. And, despite Sabonis’ work as an offensive hub a la Nicola Jokic, the Kings play a lot of iso ball. They’re fourth in the NBA in % of made unassisted field goals. So, Fox’s buckets are vitally important to Sacramento.

Dyson Daniels will be tasked with guarding him tonight and he’s had an arguably just as historic run, but on defense. He’s racked up 27 steals in his past five games and is leading the league with 3.7 a game. Jalen Williams is second in total steals with 28 in the season. And he doesn’t just get them by gambling, he genuinely guards up and embarrasses offensive players. Whenever the Great Barrier Theif is matched up against an elite guard, it’s must-watch hoops.

Nov. 19 (NBA Cup): Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics
It’s the marquee matchup of the season so far. The reigning champions and still favorites to not just win each Eastern playoff series they’re in, but dominate them. Yes, they’ve dropped some games but look at the roster sheet, look at the numbers, listen to the coach’s psychotic quotes about victory and battles and mentality. They’ve earned the crown.

But Cleveland doesn’t care. There’s been minor talk of how a loss would be nice for them. So they don’t have history dissected over them before, during, and after every game. But, to say the obvious, history is what we remember. For better or worse, it influences the narrative of accolades of franchises and players more in the NBA than perhaps any other professional sports league. I hope Cleveland strives for history. So few teams get the chance. As we become more concerned about what July looks like, we forget what can make November basketball so fun.

And, it’s an NBA Cup game!

Nov. 20: Indiana Pacers @ Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are the third seed! It has come from a weak schedule the past five games, but Ime Udoka has their weirdly fun and un-ageist roster playing the third-best defense in the league and the 11th-best offense. Tari Eason and Amen Thompson are one of the more destructive and unique bench duos in the league. They’re lengthy, athletic, and will eat your offense for dinner after they play around with it for a bit. Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green are making it work, and Jabari Smith Jr. is dropping 28 one night and 10 the next. Unpredictability is watchability, right? If this team continues to win games, I suspect they’ll reach 2022 Memphis Grizzlies levels of shit-talking.

The Indiana Pacers are weird. They beat good teams and lose to bad teams. But, because it’s the #East, they’re still the sixth seed. Every team in the conference’s weird middle — under the Celtics and above the Wizards — wants to separate itself, but Indiana as the reigning conference finalists has a bit more motivation. Was it a fluke? People think it is. They don’t necessarily have to make it again to prove that it’s not, but they do have to win more games than they are.

Nov. 21: Detroit Pistons @ Charlotte Hornets
This may not be a basketball purist’s dream, but it’s a League-Pass junky’s mid-week hit.

LaMelo Ball plays what I’d call highlight-baiting ball if it wasn’t so effective. He leads the league in usage rate and is fifth in scoring, putting up those 29.7 points by pulling up from anywhere, skipping through the lane, or throwing up floaters that scrape where Charlotte’s banners would be.

His backup is somehow former MVP Allen Iver – no, sorry, that’s Tre Mann. Watch him and you can see where I’m coming from. If you prefer the athletic play to the pompous ball of Ball and Mann, Charlotte’s sophomore Brandon Miller is capable of dunking over, on, or through anybody, but he’s rightly cocky about it too.

And because Detroit is playing, it’ll come down to the wire. They’ve already played nine clutch games through the first 14 games of the season. Having won four of those clutch games and six in total, Detroit isn’t the joke of the league like they were last season. Cade Cunningham is averaging a career-high in points and assists as he’s finally surrounded by a competent roster of veterans and shooters.

Nov. 22 (NBA Cup): Indiana Pacers @ Milwaukee Bucks
On the first day of 2024, Giannis Antetokoumpo thought the Indiana Pacers took the game ball. It was an insane, confusing, and quintessentially dramatic NBA moment that added to a mid-season rivalry with its own NBA Cup chapter. However, it did peter out by the time the playoffs rolled around.

But now we are here in a game that matters (the NBA Cup!) with both teams struggling. It’s not healthy, but we all know anger arises when the stress kettle is boiling. Both teams probably think they belong in the upper echelons of the Conference and the other team is middling nonsense. Therefore, I expect at least one kerfuffle.

And, it’s the NBA’s first-ever NBA Cup/In-Season Tournament semi-finals rematch!

Nov. 23: Detroit Pistons @ Orlando Magic
As Philadelphia fans experienced, the Orlando Magic defense is suffocating. There’s nowhere to go, it seems they teleport across the court, or each player has an extra set of limbs.

They’ve bounced back since dropping the first four games after Paolo Banchero was injured, now on a five-game winning streak and holding the opponent to under 100 points in each of those games. Their 92.9 defensive rating in that stretch is the best in the league over the past five games and would be the best by 10 points on the season. As much as a hullabaloo has been made over the three-point takeover homogenizing NBA offense, there is still great defense to be enjoyed in Orlando.

Nov. 24: Dallas Mavericks @ Miami Heat
The Dallas Mavericks are an aberration. They lost to the Utah Jazz with Luka Doncic before beating the Oklahoma City Thunder without him. Despite their backcourt of proven fourth-quarterers Doncic and Kyrie Irving, they’re only 2-6 in clutch games. They’re top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, and ninth in net rating, but are only 7-7 so far. Strange.

That’s only two wins better than the 5-7 Miami Heat, who are about as average as average can be. They’re 15th in offensive rating, 18th in defensive rating, and 16th in net rating. Jimmy Butler has missed five straight games but might be ready for this game. If he is, we’ll have a battle between two of the biggest smack-talkers in the game and, like Indiana vs Milwaukee, both teams’ stress levels are creeping up. If it’s a close game, expect some overheard ‘banter’ between the teams to go viral on Twitter.