NBA games of the week: Pay to watch
By Chazz Scogna
Thursday, Dec. 21: Memphis at Phoenix, 9:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 23: Dallas at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. ET
Access for $1.99 / month
Like all starter packages, this one is the cheapest with the worst options. It’s like when you get pulled over for speeding, and the police offer decides not to give you a ticket for the least expensive and damaging violation. Or when you were a kid and your parents provided you with meals, but added stuff like broccoli or spinach. At least it’s something.
All four of these teams are battling for top lottery position. The talk of the 2019 draft will be the new lottery rules. At some point you’re going to go crazy after the 200th time someone mentions how tanking is no longer a viable strategy and finishing with the third-worst record is the same as the first.
Of the four teams, two of them we expected to struggle. Both the Suns and Hawks are going through rebuilds. Atlanta has an exciting rookie in John Collins and another talented youngin in Taurean Prince. The Suns have Devin Booker and the alleged time it will take to develop other guys like Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. Both are still young enough to be charged with a crime for drinking alcohol. If we’ve learned anything — anything — from young guys in the NBA, can it be to stop ditching players so soon?
The other two teams, Memphis and Dallas, are teams on the opposite ends. They’re the ends to an era. The end to grit-and-grind and Dirk Nowitzki’s career, respectively. The Grizzlies are a team who still think they can compete in the postseason, but can’t string together enough healthy games to get there, and seeing The Big Mummy run up and down the floor is a cruel reminder to the toll being a top player in the NBA for 20 years takes. Nowitzki’s Mavs and the Mike Conley, Marc Gasol Grizzlies will always have a special place in my heart.