The NBA trade deadline was a head rush. Among the swarm of players dealt this week:
1 MVP — James Harden
1 Defensive Player of the Year — Jaren Jackson Jr.
2 All-NBA — Anthony Davis and Harden
6 All-Stars: Nikola Vučević, Kristaps Porziņģis and Darius Garland, plus Harden, Davis and JJJ
Oh, four more former All-Stars were trade filler: Chris Paul, Mike Conley, Khris Middleton and D’Angelo Russell. What a frenzied few days. Now to a weekend of basketball itself, when some of these traded stars will make official reintroductions. Here are the games to watch before the Super Bowl goes down Sunday night.
NBA weekend watch guide
Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.
GameTime (ET)TVStream
Knicks at Pistons
7:30 p.m.,
Friday
National: Prime Video
Local: MSG
Clippers at Kings
10 p.m.,
Friday
Prime Video
Prime exclusive
Rockets at Thunder
3:30 p.m.,
Saturday
ABC
Mavs at Spurs
6 p.m.,
Saturday
National: Prime Video
Local: MAVSTV,
KFAA, FDSN SW
Warriors at Lakers
8:30 p.m.,
Saturday
ABC
Cavs at Kings
10 p.m.,
Saturday
National: League Pass
Local: FDSN Ohio,
NBCSCA
Knicks at Celtics
12:30 p.m.,
Sunday
ABC
Clippers at Timberwolves
3 p.m.,
Sunday
ESPN
ABC is free over the air. ABC and ESPN also stream on ESPN Unlimited. Out-of-market games are available on NBA League Pass.
FridayNew York Knicks at Detroit Pistons
A potential Eastern Conference finals teaser, with the host comfortably atop the standings and their guests tied for No. 2. The Knicks have eight straight wins after beating the Denver Nuggets in double overtime Wednesday. The foul that necessitated the second OT came right as the buzzer blared.
Survive and advance. Advance specifically to the giant Little Caesars in downtown Detroit. The Pistons are 20-6 at their home arena.
Recall last year’s tense, physical six-game playoff series. For the Knicks fans reading this, recall it a second time. Jalen Brunson versus Cade Cunningham is some top-shelf bucket-getting. We could see deadline addition Kevin Huerter bring “Red Velvet” to Motown and score his first points as a member of the Pistons. On Thursday, New York traded for Jose Alvarado, an underdog success story from Brooklyn.
LA Clippers at Sacramento Kings
The Kings dropped an early domino by trading for De’Andre Hunter. The Clippers double-bounced the table with their Garland-for-Harden stunner. Behind its bearded on-ball generator, Los Angeles was surging — so much so that a fan printed out a post to literally eat his words.
“Gotta go live!” 😭📹
It’s almost time to eat the tweet & we’ve got some advice for you, @richhomieflom pic.twitter.com/o8p1lpwdqQ
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 27, 2026
Now, the team resets. Not only did they move off Harden, but the Clippers also swapped Ivica Zubac for Bennedict Mathurin. Garland (toe) has been out since Jan. 14. He was introduced to Inglewood on Wednesday night … as the Clips lost to the Cavs. Basketball can be very funny. Winston Garland, Darius’ dad, played for LAC in 1990-91.
SaturdayHouston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder
Once again, Kevin Durant returns to the Thunderdome. At this point, he’s played for other teams for as long as he played for the franchise that drafted him (nine seasons each). The versatile, XL-sized Rockets lead the league in second-chance scoring as of Thursday. This matchup gave us an awesome opening night marathon back in October.
No Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal) is a bummer, and the Thunder are besieged by bad health overall — all five starters were iced up for Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
If nothing else, it’s a gut-check game for the defending champs, who made an interesting move for Jared McCain on Wednesday.
Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs
It’s no Luka Dončić deal, but whoa: Anthony Davis is on the Washington Wizards. The Brow goes from saddleback to sorcery, and the Mavericks smash into total rebuild. A trade deadline isn’t real until Dallas arrives with sparklers.
Cooper Flagg and Victor Wembanyama are headliners here. This is the faceoff of the future. Oh, did someone say Mavericks and Future? NBA weekend watch guide, play “March Madness.”
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers
Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler on the call. Dončić (maybe), LeBron James and Austin Reaves in gold. Of course, the starry Lake Show gets the Saturday evening shine. The “Inside the NBA” crew starts up 30 minutes before this tipoff and then immediately following the game, which means we can get a post-deadline round of “Who He Play For?”
The answer for Porziņģis is … Golden State. At long last, the Dubs ended their awkward standoff with Jonathan Kuminga, and landed the 7-foot-2 stretch center in return. Stephen Curry (knee) missed Tuesday and Thursday action. But Draymond Green, who went long on possible trade rumors this week, remains a Warrior.
Dončić is averaging a league-best 32.8 points per game, from iso fadeaway work to behind-the-back dimes. He left Thursday’s win with a hamstring injury, so find some wood to knock and hope that he’s OK.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings
For local fans and League Passers, the suddenly Harden-ful Cavs journey to northern California. According to reporter Chris Haynes, Harden is expected to make his team debut Saturday. We’ll see how he meshes alongside Donovan Mitchell.
With back-to-back home dates against the Cavaliers and Clippers, the 2025-26 Kings have finally found their purpose — a big purple mirror to reveal the souls of blockbuster traders. Maybe someone will teach Hunter how to light the beam.
SundayNew York Knicks at Boston Celtics
Put a four-leaf clover in an ice cream cone and tattoo it onto Vucci Mane’s face. Boston brought on Vučević, a two-time All-Star center, as its offense continues to glow. The big man posted 50.5/37.6/83.8 shooting splits across 48 games with the Chicago Bulls. After Wednesday’s beatdown of the Rockets, the Celtics are No. 3 in restricted-area efficiency and tied for No. 1 in offensive rating. The fit seems evident.
Boston and New York are jostling for space behind Detroit in the Eastern Conference. The rivals know how to put on a show, and Mikal Bridges can reach new levels on the TD Garden wood:
🔐 3 steals
🚫 2 blocks
🙌 1 game-sealing play
Mikal Bridges was LOCKDOWN for the @nyknicks in the Game 1 overtime W! pic.twitter.com/28Y13hHcu0
— NBA (@NBA) May 6, 2025
This is the first “NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC” of the season. Ryan Ruocco has play-by-play; PJ Carlesimo joins for color commentary.
LA Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves
Basketball feels secondary in Minneapolis right now.
But as it stands, the Timberwolves look competitive. They’re ranked in the top 10 in offensive and defensive ratings through 52 games. Anthony Edwards scored 39 points Monday and 30 on Wednesday. The Wolves did not swing a Giannis Antetokounmpo megadeal, but they did bolster their bench via Ayo Dosunmu. Minnesota is set to rock its black 2000s throwback uniform on Sunday afternoon.
How will Kawhi Leonard respond to LA’s on-the-fly roster remake? The team’s fulcrum has been quietly stellar this season, with the highest scoring average of his 14-year career (27.6 points per game as of Thursday). The Steve Ballmer-era Clippers are many things — so many things — but they’re never boring.
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