4 NBA games to watch on Valentine's day

There are 12 games scheduled to take place tomorrow in the NBA. Here’s a look at the pick of the lot:

Bulls vs Celtics

The Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics have been the one constant rivalry in the Eastern Conference for quite sometime now. Teams like Orlando, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia may not even make it to the playoffs this year. The Celtics-Bulls rivalry is the most consistent one in the East in the recent years. We can’t forget the epic playoff series they treated us to in 2009, and with both teams missing their superstar point guards in Rose and Rondo, they will have to make interesting adjustments to cover up for the void left by the star guards. The Bulls are now 30-21, fourth best in the Eastern Conference and they have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Celtics carry better momentum coming in to this game, they are 27-24 right now but have won 7 of their last 10 games.

Nuggets vs Nets

The Denver Nuggets and the Brooklyn Nets are in a sense antithesis of each other. The Nets seem to be built on the premise of buying the best talent available, and the Nuggets roster is one, to quote their coach George Karl, which is full of the top 40 players in the NBA, without having any top 10 player. Both teams feature excellent point guards in Deron Williams and Ty Lawson. Williams will be looking to use his size to overwhelm the smaller Lawson. The Nuggets as a whole will be looking to rinse the bitter taste of today’s loss out of their mouths. They lost a close one to the Toronto Raptors on a Rudy Gay jumper which gave the Raptors the lead with 5 seconds left. That loss dropped the Nuggets to 33-20 and they have now lost 2 games ever since their 11 game win streak ended. The Nets come in to this one with a 30-22 record and having gone 4-6 in their last 10 games. Both teams are also a little disgruntled at not having their stars named to the all star team. Brook Lopez got in after Rondo was injured, no other player from either team will be on the all star team and that rankles with them. Expect the Nets to take advantage of the fatigued Nuggets.

Raptors vs Knicks

Speaking of Rudy Gay, he may actually make this game the third one in four games in which he hits the game winning shot. He made the go ahead jumper today vs the Nuggets and before that he put the Indiana Pacers away on a last second jumper. There are a lot of parallels between Rudy Gay’s situation and Carmelo Anthony’s with the Knicks. Carmelo may actually give Rudy a dap pre game for sinking his former team today. Besides that, both players were faces of their franchises in the Western Conference and were traded away to teams in the Eastern Conference. And both players stepped up their play in clutch time with their new teams. It will be intriguing to see which of the two gets the better of the other tomorrow. The Raptors are now 20-32 and vying to knock out the Bucks and the Sixers for the race to the 8th playoff spot. They have gone 5-5 in their last ten games. The Knicks are 2nd in the Eastern Conference with a 32-17 record, and they have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. Expect the Knicks to pull ahead.

Rockets vs Clippers

The Houston Rockets are valiantly holding on to the 8th spot in the West with a 29-25 record. They have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and breathed a sigh of relief today after James Harden shook off a ugly looking ankle injury to bounce right back on the court. Their season is full of excitement and apprehension, holding on to the last playoff spot will do that to you. The Clippers have finally accommodated their stars back in the lineup and Griffin and Paul have carried them to two consecutive wins. The Clippers are now 37-17, and would have been a lot better if Paul had not got injured. The Clippers are 5-5 in their last 10 but have won 2 straight. Houston may be named the Rockets but the Clippers are the team whose players seem to be rocket propelled as they fly all over and dunk all over everybody. Expect the Clippers to take this one.