We return to a normal NBA schedule after the last two Sundays off and the In-Season Tournament ending on Saturday. I finally got a prediction right and the Lakers are the inaugural In-Season Tournament Champions with Lebron James becoming the first IST MVP. The game went exactly how I thought it would go with the Lakers looking unstoppable to a bottom 5 defense. I mentioned that the Lakers X-factor will be Dlo and Reaves needing to step up. That deemed to be true as Reaves put up 28 points and Russell had 13 and 7. The big perimeter defenders and the gameplay that Darvin Ham had limited Halliburton’s ability to score. Anthony Davis looked like a man possessed and flashed his top 5 potential that people know he has. I wish AD would play like this consistently because he would be a legitimate MVP contender. The Lakers will hang a banner and the first IST Championship will be debated for the rest of time on NBA Twitter.
Tonight is an interesting slate of games. The Knicks play the Raptors coming off two blowout losses last week. Unfortunately, Mitchell Robinson needs ankle surgery is out for 8-10 weeks. Mitch has been the heart and soul of this Knicks team this season and has been an absolute beast on the boards. Isaiah Hartenstein is going to have to step up and Jericho Sims needs to take advantage of these minutes. There are a few free agents I can see the Knicks signing while Mitch is out. Obviously the first two that come to mind are Taj Gibson and Nerlens Noel. These old dudes should not be in the NBA anymore but Thibs have loved both of these dudes for a long time and I can definitely see Taj playing meaningful minutes for the Knicks for absolutely no reason. The player I want the Knicks to sign even though it could be a huge project is Kai Jones. Yes, he went a little crazy this offseason but you cannot teach the raw athleticism of Kai. The Knicks can turn him into a Mitchell Robinson type, and even though I do not think this will ever happen, it could be a cool story and an exciting player off the bench. The Knicks need to take care of business against the Raptors tonight and get back in the winning column. I am glad Brunson is able to play after rolling his ankle with 20 seconds left against the Celtics down 15. I cannot stand seeing injuries and for our star player to be in the game in that situation is unacceptable.
It will be interesting to see if the Pacers have any sort of “Championship Hangover” and if they can keep up the energy against the Pistons who are dying for a win. I can definitely see the challenge for the Pacers to play with the same intensity as they were playing with in Vegas. The Pelicans are favored against the number one team in the NBA the Minnesota Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards is questionable for the game. The Pelicans and Zion specifically got absolutely destroyed on First Take today. A bought in Pelicans team is a scary sight but we’ll see what the national criticism does to this team tonight. The most intriguing matchup to me is the Denver Nuggets taking on the Hawks in Atlanta. It feels like these teams never play each other. I know that the East only plays the West twice a year but I cannot picture these two teams playing against each other. Jokic has been terrible the last two games shooting 18-58 (31%). I expect Jokic to have a bounce back game but Capela is a tough matchup for Nikola. I will do my best to keep up with these games watching NBA CrunchTime but will be sweating out every Jordan Love pass, hoping he throws 4 touchdowns.
JakesTakes 
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