As the self proclaimed In-Season Tournament Enthusiast, my two favorite days of the week to watch the NBA are now on Tuesdays and Fridays. I love everything about this tournament, from the courts (most of them) to the effort of the players, I think this is the best thing the NBA has done in a long time. Although there are only 5 games on tonight, it is the first time in NBA history, a team can clinch a spot in the Knockout Round of the In-Season Tournament. I am not going to pretend that I watch every second of every game and break down random statistics and trends but I do follow each game very closely and am excited for another day in the association.
The game I am looking forward to the most is Pacers @ Hawks. With the total being set at 253 points, the highest since 2003, I expect this game to be as fun as you can imagine. Both teams are top 4 in scoring and like to play fast. The Pacers are 2-0 in the Tournament so far and can clinch a spot in the Knockout Round with a win. If Philly and Indy take care of business, the Hawks are eliminated. I have already mentioned how fun it is to watch Tyrese Halliburton play basketball and this is the perfect game for him since the Hawks will be playing as little defense as the Pacers usually play. I could see a dunk contest break out in the middle of the game between Obi Toppin and Jalen Johnson on who can have the flashier lob dunk from the only two players in the league that average 11 assists (Trae and Tyrese).
The Lakers are undefeated to start this tournament and look to play a Jazz team coming off a tough double OT loss to the Suns. The winner of this can clinch a spot in the Knockout Round. Talen Horton-Tucker usually plays well against the Lakers and hopefully the Jazz can get an upset in LA. The last thing I want to see from this tournament is the Lakers holding up the trophy on December 9th and the Jazz winning tonight can prevent that. The Jazz need Lauri to have another monster game if they want to have a chance.
The other three games don’t excite me that much. The Cavaliers playing on National TV without Donovan Mitchell is a tough look for the NBA and its gonna be real tough for them to beat one of the best teams in the league in the Sixers. I picked up Craig Porter Jr off waivers in Fantasy today so I hope he can continue providing a spark off the Cavs bench as an undrafted rookie. The Raptors @ Magic game will be the exact opposite of the Pacers-Hawks game. Low-Scoring, defensive battle. Tonight is also the first time that Deandre Ayton can show the Suns they made the right trade in the regular season. After stinking it up in the first preseason game against his former team, I hope that DominAyton can rally his team to keep it close against the Suns.
JakesTakes 
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