5 NBA games to watch this week
Four weeks into the 2014-15 season, a number of teams have emerged as potential contenders, a number of contenders are facing adversity and a few surprising teams are looking to prove they belong.
Here are five games to watch during Thanksgiving week on the NBA schedule.
Tuesday: Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans
Last week's highly anticipated matchup between Anthony Davis' Pelicans and DeMarcus Cousins' Kings lived up to the hype, with the superstar big men combining for 52 points and 26 rebounds in Sacramento.
Now they'll do it again in the Big Easy, where Davis will look to get a second win over Cousins in as many weeks.
Outside that exciting matchup of young studs, a Pelicans-Kings clash is intriguing in its own right. There isn't much room for error in the Western Conference playoff race, and if teams like New Orleans and Sacramento want to hang around all season, as Phoenix did last year, they'll have to separate themselves from other West also-rans.
Wednesday: Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers
Another rematch from last week makes our list of games to watch this week.
The fragile Cavaliers enter the week on a four-game losing streak, with their last two losses coming against the Wizards and Toronto Raptors in rather convincing fashion. While there is still plenty of time to figure things out, Cleveland doesn't want to keep digging an early hole behind the few other capable teams in the Eastern Conference.
There's no excuse for this team to be 2-4 at home or 3-3 against the East. How they come out against the Wizards after another week of disappointment and adversity could tell us a lot about the pre-season championship favorites.
Wednesday: Milwaukee Bucks at Minnesota Timberwolves
The opening month of the season hasn't produced much in the way of rookie magic, but Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are showing signs of life, and you can't ignore the first matchup between picks No. 1 and 2 from the vaunted 2014 draft class.
Wiggins is coming off a 29-point, five-rebound, four-steal performance against the Kings. Parker, meanwhile, has averaged 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over his last five games, while shooting 49 percent from the field.
It's not exactly a clash of titans yet, but Wiggins vs. Parker looks a lot more exciting today than it did a week ago.
Friday: Dallas Mavericks at Toronto Raptors
The top two offenses in the Association, two teams that head into the week with a combined record of 21-6, and one of the league's best home crowds make Dallas at Toronto on Black Friday one of the week's absolute must-watch games.
Sunday: Memphis Grizzlies at Sacramento Kings
Another rematch makes the list.
The last time these two teams hooked up, the Kings blew a huge early lead, lost on a controversial alley-oop at the buzzer, and protested the result afterwards (the NBA's ruling on the protest is set for Dec. 2).
A Cousins/Gasol matchup with both big men playing the best basketball of their careers is enticing enough. Throw in the Grizzlies' NBA-best record, the Kings' surprising start to the season and a resurgent Sacramento crowd, and the game more than earns must-watch distinction.