Hello everyone! It’s Friday, so it’s time to kick off the weekend with an exciting night of basketball featuring our former University of Kentucky Wildcats now playing in the NBA. If you’re looking for something to watch after the Stephen F. Austin @ Kentucky game, there will be some interesting matchups tonight for subscribers of NBA League Pass, and one single game nationally televised on NBA-TV. Let’s check them out.
7:00pm ET on NBA League Pass: Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers are still looking for their first win, the only team left in the league with a goose egg in the win column. There’s a UK player on the roster, Nerlens Noel, but he’s still out after that procedure to relieve his inflamed plica, so you won’t see him tonight.
7:00pm ET on NBA League Pass: Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards. Bradley Beal is inactive tonight vs the Cleveland Cavaliers, so John Wall will be the main star power for the Wizards. He’s had a pair of ejections from games this week, so he’s been feeling feisty. How will the Wizards channel this into a possible win against the defending champions? On the other side, the Cleveland Cavaliers have DeAndre Liggins on the inactive list for now.
7:00pm ET on NBA League Pass: Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is inactive tonight, but Patrick Patterson and Aaron Harrison should be available. Both of these teams are making a hard push early to make it to the playoffs again this year. The Hornets have managed to become one of the top teams in the East so far, and the Raptors were already up there on the list.
7:00pm ET on NBA League Pass: Utah Jazz at Orlando Magic. Trey Lyles and the Jazz have traveled across the country to pay a visit to the tourism capitol of the country and match up against the Magic. Rudy Gobert is making a case for himself for defensive player of the year right now, so if you enjoy blocks and post work, check him out while you look for Trey Lyles. Jodie Meeks is still out, healing up from a fracture in his foot.
7:30pm ET on NBA League Pass: New York Knicks at Boston Celtics. The Knicks are in a tough position right now; things aren’t going the way they thought they would when they acquired Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah from the Chicago Bulls. Still, Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony are worth the price of admission, and the Celtics are also making noise, featuring small but mighty guard Isaiah Thomas. James Young could make an appearance.
8:00pm ET on NBA-TV: Los Angeles Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder. These two Western Conference teams hate each other, and Russell Westbrook has a lot of reasons to be mad right now, so I’d look for it to be Russ vs the world in this game. Enes Kanter will continue to contribute coming off the bench for OKC. Lots of lobs and dunks are the expectation when you put Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on the floor together. This should be a great game to watch if you are not an NBA League Pass subscriber.
10:00pm ET on NBA League Pass: Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers. This will be a tough game for the Kings; they just played a late game on TNT last night, a loss to the Lakers, so they will be tired. SAC assigned all three of this year’s draft picks to their D-League affiliate today, including Skal Labissiere, so he will not be at the game. Portland is really good, featuring CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, and Mason Plumlee should give DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein some trouble in the paint. A Kings win is not impossible, but also not likely under the circumstances.
So, there you have it, tonight’s lineup of games featuring former Cats. Enjoy!