NBA Must-See Games of 2019
10-14-19 By Michaela Burke
Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons
With all of the trades this offseason, the NBA is truly wide open this season and there are many teams that are legitimate contenders to win a championship. This makes for an incredibly exciting season.There are thirty teams in the league, that each play a total of eighty-two games which totals to 1,200 games played throughout the regular season. With that said, some games hold more importance than others. With so many exciting games on the calendar, these are a few of the must-see games of the 2019-2020 season.
The first game is the Los Angeles Lakers vs Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 PM ET on October 22. This will be a contest of who’s the superior Los Angeles-based basketball team. Both teams made big moves this offseason. The Clippers acquired stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and the Lakers signed Anthony Davis to help LeBron James lead their young team. As long as their star players stay healthy, both of these LA teams have the talent to contend for the 2020 NBA Championship.
Switching to the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are set to face off for the first time on October 23 at 7:30 PM ET. The rivalry between these two teams has grown exponentially over the past couple years making this matchup highly anticipated for both fanbases. The Celtics have dominated both the regular season and postseason matchups. This offseason, the C’s acquired 3-time All-Star Kemba Walker to replace Kyrie Irving. However, Philly signed former-Celtic, Al Horford over the summer who will help out star center Joel Embiid.
The Los Angeles Lakers will match up against the Houston Rockets for the first time on January18 at 8:30 PM ET. Both teams added big-time players to their rosters this offseason. The Rockets added Russell Westbrook to line up alongside his fellow former-NBA MVP James Harden. As previously mentioned, the Lakers acquired the 6-time All-Star Anthony Davis. It is very possible this will be a matchup we’ll see in the postseason.
Arguably one of the biggest matchups all season is the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clippers. These two teams will match up on November 11 at 10 PM ET. The Bucks are expected to be one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference because of their star player and reigning NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo. His biggest rival in the east last season was Kawhi Leonard, who now plays for the Clippers. Both teams will be out to prove they can not only compete for a title this season but they can actually win one.