NBA Returns From All-Star Break With Contenders Going Head to Head

The NBA is back! After a week with no games other than the All-Star festivities, the league returns tonight with a packed slate to open the stretch run. After a hectic trade deadline, things seem wide open, and it’s going to be fun watching the playoff races in the East and West shape up.

You also won’t want to miss the No. 1 team in women’s college hoops hitting the road and much more on a busy Thursday night in sports.

Here’s what I’m watching today.

MUST WATCH:

Memphis Grizzlies at Philadelphia 76ers

This game is quite the way to start the second half of the NBA season. The Grizzlies are coming out of the All-Star break in second place in what figures to be a wild Western Conference race down the stretch, while the Sixers sit in third in the East but just three games behind the Celtics for the top spot. Ja Morant vs. Joel Embiid is an incredible superstar battle that I can’t wait to watch: Embiid scored 35 points in the season’s first meeting, but Morant’s 28 were enough to get the Grizzlies over the finish line in that one.

7:30 p.m. ET, TNT

READ MORE:

• The Biggest Questions in the NBA’s Wild West (Chris Herring)
• NBA MVP Race: We’re Not Sure Anyone Can Catch Nikola Jokić (Chris Herring)
• NBA All-Star Weekend Winners and Losers (Rohan Nadkarni)

LINEUP:

• Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 p.m. ET, Altitude/Bally Sports Ohio, watch on fuboTV
• Women’s CBB: No. 1 South Carolina at Tennessee, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN, watch on fuboTV
• Men’s CBB: No. 21 Northwestern at Illinois, 9 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network, watch on fuboTV
• Calgary Flames at Vegas Golden Knights, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN, watch on fuboTV
• Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. ET, TNT
• Portland Trail Blazers at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. ET, Root Sports NW/NBC Sports California, watch on fuboTV
• Men’s CBB: No. 4 UCLA at Utah, 11 p.m. ET, FS1, watch on fuboTV

Think we missed something worth watching? Reply to guide@si.com and let us know what we should be looking out for and why.

Happy streaming!

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