The Emirates NBA Cup group stage kickstarted the season in November. The first slate of games were awesome and showed off who’s who in this year’s early season. Now, as December’s here, the group stages have wrapped up and the slate is set for next week in Vegas.
Beyond that, Giannis is playing like the best player in the league and the top of the East looks like a crash course between Cleveland and Boston. Play-in positions are still wide-open between whatever teams decide not to tank. And Jimmy Butler may have given up on the season.
Below, I’ve listed the games that will fill in the narrative gaps you may be finding in this season.