Best Games To Watch This Week: Dec. 5

Winter Showcase is fast approaching, with teams converging upon Las Vegas in less than two weeks. In the meantime, a full week of G League action is on tap!

There are plenty of storylines on the slate over the next few days. There are winning streaks on the line, playoff races heating up, and teams looking to stay in the mix. 

Take a look at some of the games worth keeping an eye on in the near future.

Austin Spurs v. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Dec. 5 at 7 pm/et on NBAGLeague.com)

Rio Grande Valley will be putting the league’s longest-active winning streak on the line. Just four days ago, the Vipers beat this same Spurs team 113-98 behind six double-digit scorers, including a 16-point, 15-rebound effort from Darius Days and 5 threes from Trevor Hudgins. In addition to those two, rookie TyTy Washington has also played a key role during this current run, putting up 22.6 points and 4 assists per game while also converting on 41.5% of his 8.2 three-point attempts per outing.

Wisconsin Herd v. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Dec. 6 at 7:30 pm/et on NBA TV)

It’s a rubber match for these teams, as they’ve split the two games they’ve played so far. Wisconsin took the first matchup on Nov. 26 behind 20+ point performances from Sandro Mamukelashvili, AJ Green, and Jontay Porter. However, Sioux Falls then secured a more than convincing 46-point win on Sunday, with Orlando Robinson (27 PTS, 19 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK) and Dru Smith (26 PTS, 6 AST, 5 3PT) leading the way.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants v. Cleveland Charge (Dec. 7 at 7 pm/et on ESPN+)

With Fort Wayne and Cleveland currently tied atop the Central Division standings, this is about as crucial a game as there will be this week. Their two most recent matchups featured a pair of absolutely dominant performances by the Mad Ants. They held Cleveland’s leading scorer Sharife Cooper to two of his lowest scoring outputs of the season (10 points on Nov. 20, 11 on Nov. 22) and logged a total of 265 points, including a 143-point effort on Nov. 22, while shooting close to 40% from three as a team over the course of those games.  

Long Island Nets v. Capital City Go-Go (Dec. 9 at 7 pm/et on NBAGLeague.com)

Both Long Island and Capital City are aiming to stay in the hunt in the East Division heading into the stretch run of Showcase Cup action. After a tough start to the season, the Nets have won five of their past six games thanks to a defense that, in that span, has held opponents to just 42.5% shooting and is ranked seventh in defensive rating. Meanwhile, the Go-Go and their top-ten-ranked defense will look to get themselves back into the win column and remain in contention.