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Happy Boxing Day folks! To those of you that left your house in the wee hours this morning, god bless you as well.
Also shout out Jesus for getting 5 NBA games scheduled as his birthday gift, he gave us Russ being Russ, a fun matinee at MSG, the baby Lakers swagging all over the short handed Clippers, and his Dad ended the Warriors.
If we’re sticking to the theme here, Richard Jefferson and Kyrie Irving were the wisemen who gave the Dubs all the MIR they could handle.
It was an instant classic at the Q, someone get me a printed canvas of Jefferson running down the floor with his finger raised please.
How was Christmas for the Raps you ask? Oh, it was a Merry Litmas.
Onto the slate of games this week, where barring any unforeseen circumstances the Raps should go 3-1. But this is a west coast swing, where injuries happen and teams of years past have had season’s completely flipped upside down.
Dec. 26th @ Portland
This game looked a lot more dangerous at the beginning of the season, but the Raps absolutely NEED to take this one at the Moda Center tonight. As of this morning Damian Lillard was listed as doubtful much to the chagrin of @JHennyTweets who will be the on-site correspondent for HQ tonight and that leaves the Blazers without their marquee weapon. This matchup also pits the Raps league record offensive rating of 115.1 against the Blazers dead last defensive rating of 111.1. Much scoring, very points. Raps by 9.
Dec. 28th @ Golden State
The Warriors won’t play again before taking on the Raps at Oracle on Wednesday night, and in the pit of my stomach that has me feeling a little queasy. BUT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME THESE TWO TEAMS MET AT ORACLE.
The great Ernie Johnson called it, as the Raps had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds but a blown call on Kyle Lowry gave the ball back the Dubs. If this year’s game is close and the refs keep their whistles swallowed, then the Raps got a punchers chance. That being said, the Warriors just don’t lose back to back games, so they’ll win by 7.
Dec. 29th @ Phoenix
Second night of a back-to-back after a draining night up in the Bay Area could spell disaster for any team, but this feels like a game where a role player exploded to carry the Raps. Gimme 28 Norm Powell points and a Siakam double-double. Raps by 6.
Jan. 1st @ LA Lakers
New Year’s Eve in La La Land. The Sunday night League Pass Lakers special. Those two factors have disappointment and disaster written all over them, especially as we look at the history of the Raps in the Sunday night Laker game.
Let’s #EmbraceDebate and let us know which performance you think is more impressive in the comments.
Luckily, Kobe Bryant will not be on the floor Sunday night, and that leaky Laker D won’t be able to stop DeMar from showing out in his hometown. Raps by 11.