National Basketball Association

5 best NBA League Pass games of the week: Oct. 24-30

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Looking at the NBA League Pass games of the week for Oct. 24-30, the first week of the 2016-17 season

In the name of Gregg Popovich, the 2016-17 NBA season is finally upon us. We’ve weathered a roundball-less summer and now Naismith’s game is finally ready to be digested, dissected, and divulged once again.

There’s no need to rehash the narratives of the offseason. You know that Kevin Durant now plays for the Golden State Warriors and they’re going to be absurd. Yes, Cleveland finally has a championship. We’ll miss you, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant. Now it’s time for the actual basketball to be played.

When it comes to teams like the Warriors and Cavs, though, you can catch them many nights on national TV. However, other teams aren’t as fortunate. That’s where the beautiful invention of NBA League Pass comes into play.

However, it can sometimes be a difficult daily and weekly decision trying to decipher which League Pass games you need to be watching. So at least a bit, we’ll help you out all season, serving up the five best NBA League Pass games of the week.

Here are the games for Oct. 24-30, the first week of the season:

Oct 3, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) drives to the basket on Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) and forward Gordon Hayward (20) during the first quarter at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

5. Jazz at Trail Blazers – Tuesday, Oct. 25 (10 p.m. ET)

Plenty of hype surrounded the Utah Jazz going into last season and rightfully so. However, a plague of injuries that started with Dante Exum tearing his ACL in the offseason began and never relented. Thus, they were left just outside the playoff picture. Now they’ve added George Hill, have more depth, and are healthy coming into the 2016-17 NBA season. Suffice it to say that this is a team with big expectations from those in the know.

What’s intriguing about the only League Pass game on NBA Opening Night, though, is the fact that this same Jazz team faces off with a Portland Trail Blazers team that no one expected to be where they ended up last season. Following LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum either leaving or being traded away and then Portland’s appeared inability to compensate for that loss, many people projected a huge drop-off. However, Terry Stotts is a wizard (Harry). Thus, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and company all made it right back to the postseason and were a ton of fun doing so.

Now with the omni-present Evan Turner on the roster (and hopefully Festus Ezeli as well, if he can get healthy), the Blazers are going to be quality once again. Thus, we have a matchup of potential Western Conference dark horses right out of the gate. Sure, you won’t want to miss out on Spurs-Warriors that starts a half-hour later. But you should certainly have League Pass fired up with this game rolling simultaneously with that.

Matchup to Watch: Everyone (POR) vs Rudy Gobert (UTA)

Jan 8, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) moves the ball as Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) grabs onto his arm during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

4. Lakers at Thunder – Sunday, Oct. 30 (7 p.m. ET)

Why yes, I am fully aware of the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers were an eyesore last season. But when you strip away a far-past-his-prime-trying-to-still-be-29 Kobe Bryant (sorry, Lakers fans) and dead-weight holding a clipboard in Byron Scott, this team is quite intriguing. They now have an exciting new head coach in Luke Walton and consecutive No. 2 overall picks in-tow with D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram to go along with a core of other young players—and, of course, Timofey Mozgov.

Then there will be Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder sitting on the other bench, another team facing major transition (obviously) in the wake of the Kevin Durant departure/saga/back-stabbing/etc. Clearly we don’t fully know what to expect from an OKC team playing without Durant. However, we can expect to see Russ’ absolute maniacal attacking on both ends of the floor right away. He’s going to be out for blood and won’t care who he has to take it from.

In short, these are going to be two of the more exciting teams in the league this season, even if their levels of success or expectations differ immensely. Both teams are going to be playing fast and both teams have talent that’s entirely worth the price of League Pass. Call this one a hidden gem that you shouldn’t just skip over because the Lakers won just 17 games last season.

Matchup to Watch: D’Angelo Russell (LAL) vs Russell Westbrook (OKC)

Nov 15, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) dribbles in the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33) at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

3. Timberwolves at Grizzles – Wednesday, Oct. 26 (8 p.m. ET)

Coming as a shock to no one, there are people (myself) who are quite high on the Minnesota Timberwolves entering the 2016-17 season. Obviously that has a lot to do with their young talent like the ineffably great 20-year-old, Karl-Anthony Towns. However, Wednesday night will also be the first regular season game for Tom Thibodeau as head coach of the Wolves.

Without question, Thibs is one of the most respected head coaches in the league. However, it seems that people forget at times how much of an impact he can have on a team, particularly one with a young, talent-laden roster. When Thibodeau first took over the Bulls for the 2010-11 season, he improved the team by 21 wins. And sure, that’s an unrealistic expectation for the Wolves and for anyone. However, it’s important to not that he’s capable of making that type of impact on a team.

Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies are the perfect early-season litmus test for the Timberwolves while also looking to transition themselves with the arrival of new head coach David Fizdale. Chandler Parsons sadly won’t be ready to suit up on Wednesday as he’s still not been cleared. However, the Grizzlies are finally at full-strength again aside from that with Mike Conley and Marc Gasol ending their 2015-16 campaign out of action due to injury. Putting that type of veteran presence across from Thibs and the Wolves should be fascinating to watch.

Matchup to Watch: Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) vs Marc Gasol (MEM)

Oct 19, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) gets defended by Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

2. Pistons at Raptors – Wednesday, Oct. 26 (7:30 p.m. ET)

Whenever news of the Reggie Jackson injury broke, a brief sadness came over me. I’d had high hopes for the Detroit Pistons this season. With another year of the Stan Van Gundy voodoo being cast over the Motor City and another year of maturation for players like Andre Drummond, there’s reason to believe this Pistons team can take a leap forward. However, the gut-reaction to Jackson’s injury was that it derailed those plans. Then, I remembered that they signed Ish Smith this offseason and things didn’t seem quite so bad anymore.

On Wednesday, Smith and the Pistons go north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors—you know, the team that took two games off of the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals. Not only are these two high-quality teams in the East that present intriguing matchups all over the court, but this could be an interesting look at the Raptors.

Coming off of their 56-win season and trip to the East Finals, the Raptors look largely the same on their roster. What’s intriguing, though, is that it seems that many teams in the conference have improved around them, the Pistons being one of them. With the East looking more competitive, it’s going to be interesting to see if the Raptors take an apparent step back due to the fact that so many other teams took a step forward. Even without Jackson, this matchup with Detroit will be a quality first-look at that.

Matchup to Watch: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (DET) vs DeMar DeRozan (TOR)

Oct 3, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) sets the play against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

1. Rockets at Mavericks – Friday, Oct. 28 (8:30 p.m. ET)

Especially early in the season, it doesn’t get much better than two newly constructed teams and two completely contrasting coaching styles going head-to-head. When it comes to the Mike D’Antoni Houston Rockets and Rick Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks, that’s exactly what you’re going to be treated to.

Echoing years past, but also with a little extra D’Antoni-infused juice behind it, the Rockets are going to run, run, then run a bit more and try to put up 150 points each night. The additions of Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon (with the departure of Dwight Howard) solidify that. That stands in stark contrast to what the Mavericks will likely be up to given their roster. Yes, their new additions of Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut are capable of playing in an up-tempo system as they did in Golden State. The likes of incumbents like Deron Williams and the ineffable Dirk Nowitzki, however, are not as capable at this point in their respective careers.

It’s going to be an early-season game, so it’s right to not know what to fully expect from either of these teams. The preseason can only give but so much insight. However, this matchup should be fired up on League Pass immediately. Both teams have a seemingly high variance in terms of how their 2016-17 NBA seasons play out. This matchup on Friday will give us a look potentially of what they can become and, perhaps more importantly, how these teams handle a severely different style of play.

Matchup to Watch: Ryan Anderson (HOU) vs Dirk Nowitzki (DAL)