NBA Scrimmages Today: LeBron James vs Luka Doncic, while Milwaukee Bucks go up against San Antonio Spurs
The basketball season is ready to take off in the NBA bubble beginning July 30th in Orlando. A total of 22 teams have travelled to Orlando, some being contenders for the NBA championship and some looking to go deep in the playoffs. The NBA scrimmages began from yesterday and will continue for the next few days.
In the NBA scrimmagese today, there will be four games. Four NBA scrimmage games were also played yesterday, with the LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat all coming out victorious. However, there is a small tweak in the rules for the first round of NBA scrimmage matches. They will be of forty minutes each, meaning their will be four quarters of ten minutes.
The organization has taken this decision for the NBA scrimmage matches because it will be taxing for the players to play twelve-minute quarters after coming from a long four-month break. This might lead to injuries and early fatigue, so this is a good call from the NBA. Also, a lot of teams do not have their full rosters with them right now due to coronavirus pandemic and other reasons.
The first two matches will be Milwaukee Bucks vs San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers vs Indiana Pacers. The Bucks are one of the strong contenders for the NBA championship alongside the two LA teams. Giannis Antetekoumpo is on course to win back-to-back NBA MVP award. On the other hand, the San Antonio Spurs have had a lukewarm year. The Spurs are contention for a playoff berth and however, have entered the NBA bubble without their assistant coach Tim Duncan who is looking after the rehabilitation of LaMarcus Alridge. The Bucks are the clear favourite for this game and should win it comfortably barring an inspired Spurs performance.
The other match, however, Indiana Pacers vs Trail Blazers should be a much closer affair. It will be a matchup between Indiana’s well-drilled side versus Trail Blazers individual stars. Damian Lillard led Trail Blazers were handicapped throughout the season due to injury to their key frontcourt players. Indiana has punched above the weight this season after missing their star shooting guard Victor Oladipo through injury. Both the teams will be looking to win this NBA scrimmage game and boost their confidence ahead of the upcoming restart.
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NBA scrimmage will help teams analyze their strengths and weaknesses
The NBA scrimmage games organized by the NBA will help the teams in their preparations for season restart on July 30th. They will be able to assess the rotation going ahead and the fitness of their players. It will also help them to chalk out their strategies and test them in the NBA scrimmage games before the eventual restart.
The other two games tonight will be Dallas Mavericks vs LA Lakers and Phoenix Suns vs Utah Jazz. The first games as expected will be a showdown between 2 superstars in LeBron James and Luka Doncic. They will be supported by Anthony Davis and Kristaps Porzingis. The Mavericks have been the best offensive team and the Lakers have been the best defensive team this season so it will be a cracker of a game. The Suns vs Jazz game should result in a lopsided win for the Jazz, who simply have too much firepower for the Suns to handle. Young stars like Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell will be looking to make a mark on the game.
Also read: Predicting 2019-20 All NBA First Team