5 NBA games to watch this week
With only seven weeks remaining in the regular season, nightly matchups are magnified and the playoff races are coming into focus.
With that in mind, here are five games to watch this week.
Monday: Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET (NBATV)
They've clashed in two of the last three postseasons and enjoy one of the league's best current rivalries. The absence of Blake Griffin dilutes it, but the Clippers are surging, having won four in a row, and they enter the week four games behind the Grizzlies for second place in the West.
The best part? After meeting in L.A. on Monday, the Grizzlies and Clippers will face off for a second time this week on Saturday night in Memphis.
Thursday: Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers, 8:00 p.m. ET (TNT)
The Warriors drilled the Cavaliers without LeBron James at Oracle in January, but things have changed since then. The reeling Cavs entered that game losers of three straight and six of seven. This time, they've won 16 of their last 18 and boast a 33-14 record when James is healthy.
They're looking more and more like the preseason championship favorite everyone expected, and a home date against the league-leading Warriors is another opportunity to prove it.
Friday: Golden State Warriors at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET
The toughest 24 hours in the Warriors' six-game Eastern road trip is a back-to-back that takes them from Cleveland to Toronto.
The 43-10 Warriors versus the 37-18 Raptors, with Stephen Curry (currently day-to-day) in one of his dad's former arenas, in front of what should be a boisterous Friday night crowd in the Air Canada Centre. Not a bad way to start the weekend.
Sunday: Los Angeles Clippers at Chicago Bulls, 1:00 p.m. ET (ABC)
You can make the argument that the Bulls and Clippers have disappointed this season, at least from a consistency standpoint, but they still enter the week with combined records of 72-40 and remain fully capable of emerging from their respective conferences come June.
Plus, while it's not the matchup it might have been three years ago, any battle featuring Chris Paul and Derrick Rose could be worthy of attention. Watching DeAndre Jordan and Pau Gasol nearly fight each other for every single rebound won't be bad, either.
Sunday: Cleveland Cavaliers at Houston Rockets, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
The Cavs have been the best team in the league over the last month, while the Rockets boast a top-five record and have won six straight home games against East opponents.
The real reason this Sunday afternoon matchup is a must-watch for NBA fans comes down to two names, though - James Harden and LeBron James.
In an MVP race as hotly contested as any we've seen in a decade, Harden and James are firmly entrenched in the top-five (with Curry leading, and Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook in the mix), and any matchups between those five over the final seven weeks could sway voters.