Our nightly look ahead to the schedule with a couple of notes and story lines so you can plan out your NBA viewing. All Times Eastern.
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7:30 Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks 
The Knicks have been a bit of a mess.
Sorry, I needed to write that sentence to eary “Master of Obvious” degree from the University of Phoenix.
Their firing of Mike D’Antoni and subsequent demolition of an even more messy Blazers team might have some people thinking change is on the way, but let’s see how they do against a real NBA team. The Pacers are not the Blazers. Hell, the Kentucky Wildcats would have put up a better fight. The Knicks performance tonight will be a better test of where the team is.
Couple of notes:
- The Pacers have won 25 games. Last season the Pacers didn’t get their 25th win until game 55, improving their record to 25-30.
- Steve Novack has hit 26 three-pointers since the All-Star break, which is the most in the NBA.
9:30 San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN) 
The Spurs got an upgrade over Richard Jefferson when they made the move for Stephen Jackson. At least, it seems they did. We’ll have to see if that helps at all in the long run. In the short run, the Spurs have to deal with the Thunder and not only Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, they have to deal with the size mismatches caused by Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins.
Tonight may be a test of whether the Spurs can force the Thunder into their weakness, half court basketball, or if the Thunder can exploit San Antonio’s weakness inside.
Couple of notes:
- Tim Duncan is 9 rebounds away from surpassing Paul Silas (12,357) into 19th place on the NBA all-time career rebounding list.
- James Harden has come off the bench to score double figures in all but two games (including eleven 20-point efforts in which the team is 10-1)
Other story lines for tonight:
7:00 Miami-Philadelphia: Miami looks to bounce back after blowing a 14 point lead to Orlando and losing to a Rose-less Chicago team.
7:00 New Jersey-Orlando: Dwight Howard takes on his old new team with his new old team…. I think I got that right. Get ready for a big standing O for Dwight during intros.
7:30 Washington-Atlanta: Will this truly be a re-energized John Wall leading a new group of Wizards to much improved play… or was that just a one-time thing?
8:00 Portland-Chicago: New coach, new players… new result? A TALL order going into Chicago. But we’ll see if Portland’s got some fight in them.
8:00 Toronto-Memphis: The Grizzlies hope for an easy win before a weekend that could see the return of Zach Randolph
10:00 Detroit-Phoenix: Detroit tries to continue its recent stretch of good play (4-1 in last 5) but they’ll face the Suns with a rested Steve Nash & Grant Hill
10:00 Boston-Sacramento: The Kings may be without Tyreke Evans while a number of Boston players can now rest easy after surviving the trade deadline.
10:30 Minnesota-LA Lakers: How will the Lakers react to the loss of a leader in Derek Fisher?
10:30 Milwaukee-Golden State: Well lookey who’s back… Monta Ellis gets to face his old team just a few days after the trade. I’m setting the over/under on shots he takes tonight at 32. What do you got?
John’s Picks:
Philadelphia, OKC, Miami, Orlando, Washington, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Boston, Minnesota, Milwaukee
Last Time: 6-6
Season Record: 101-81
