Oklahoma City Thunder @ Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics live on Sky Sports
Written by News on 17/10/2018
Everything you need to know about the first two live NBA games on Sky Sports…
Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics
Scene setter – Two of the Eastern Conference’s best sides and two of the NBA’s most exciting young teams are also heated rivals. Their historic animosity is renewed in the first game of the 2018-19 season.
The Celtics eliminated the Sixers in the play-offs last year and previously beat them at The O2 in the London game.
Numbers game – Celtics forward Gordon Hayward is expected to play only 25 minutes on Tuesday. A year ago, in the opening game of last season, Hayward suffered an horrific ankle injury and is still in the process of recovering.
One to watch (Celtics) – Kyrie Irving should be firing on all cylinders after a season-ending injury last March. He stepped out of LeBron James’ shadow by leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers (where he won the 2016 NBA title) and now finds himself in an Eastern Conference without LeBron. The stage is set for Irving.
One to watch (76ers) – Cameroon-born Joel Embiid is the Sixers’ standout player and carries some sizable expectation on his huge shoulders. Philly’s talented roster also includes Ben Simmons, last season’s rookie of the year. The two young stars will be crucial as the Sixers open their campaign hoping to take the next step following a successful 2017/18 season.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Golden State Warriors
Scene Setter – The Warriors, NBA champions for the past two seasons, host the highly-touted Thunder as they begin their bid for a third straight title.
The Warriors are aiming to turn their success into a dynasty. Victory this year would make them the first team since the 2000-02 LA Lakers to win three NBA titles in a row, and only the third team ever to win four titles in five years.
They are clearly the best team in the league. Star man Steph Curry is backed up by Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green while new signing DeMarcus Cousins will need more time to recover from injury.
Numbers Game – The Warriors went 1-4 in pre-season with two interesting losses to LeBron James’ Lakers, one of which saw a minor skirmish during which Curry narrowly avoided sanctions for leaving the bench. A rivalry is stoking.
One to Watch (Warriors) – Steph Curry missed practice on Sunday but he will be fit to play against Thunder. The two-time Most Valuable Player is the league’s three-point king – in last year’s Game Two of the finals he scored nine, an all-time record.
“I’m still glowing,” Curry said last week. “The glow won’t wear down until you get beat.”
One to watch (Thunder) – There are nagging doubts as to the availability of Russell Westbrook, the MVP of 2016-17, who is still recovering from knee surgery.
“You’re always kind of moving around guys, but for me, some of that is going to be a little bit random in games just because we haven’t had the luxury of doing that all the time in practice,” head coach Billy Donovan told NBA.com about Westbrook’s likely absence.
Sky Sports is the new home of the NBA in the UK with live coverage throughout the week, including Saturday night’s action free to all Sky subscribers via Sky Sports Mix
The action gets underway on Wednesday morning with a double header from 1am featuring Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics and defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors hosting Oklahoma City Thunder
And www.skysports.com/nba will be your home for news, reports, video and features throughout the season while you can follow us @SkySportsNBA
(c) Sky News 2018: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics live on Sky Sports
