Starting Lineups: March 25
A baker's dozen worth of NBA basketball will be delivered Wednesday night, complete with some intriguing matchups.
The Toronto Raptors are 0-3 against the Chicago Bulls, but they'll try for a win in hopes of staying within a half game of Chicago for third in the East. The Miami Heat face off against the Boston Celtics in a battle of seventh and eighth seeds while the East's second seeded Cleveland Cavaliers visit the West's second-place Memphis Grizzlies.
Dwight Howard will return to the Houston Rockets' lineup against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, while the Thunder meet the Spurs for the first time since Christmas day, when Russell Westbrook's double-double sparked an Oklahoma City win in San Antonio.
Here are Thursday's projected starting lineups:
Brooklyn Nets at Charlotte Hornets, 7 p.m. ET
| Position | Nets | Hornets |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Deron Williams | Kemba Walker |
| SG | Markel Brown | Gerald Henderson |
| SF | Joe Johnson | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist |
| PF | Thaddeus Young | Marvin Williams |
| C | Brook Lopez | Al Jefferson |
*Hornets F/C Cody Zeller (shoulder) will not play
Los Angeles Clippers at New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET
| Position | Clippers | Knicks |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Chris Paul | Shane Larkin |
| SG | J.J. Redick | Langston Galloway |
| SF | Matt Barnes | Lance Thomas |
| PF | Blake Griffin | Andrea Bargnani |
| C | DeAndre Jordan | Lou Amundson |
*Clippers SG Jamal Crawford (calf) remains out
*Clippers G Nate Robinson (knee) will not play
*Knicks PG Alexey Shved (ribs) will not play
*Knicks PF Travis Wear (back) will not play
*Knicks SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (wrist) will not play
Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET
| Position | Hawks | Magic |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Jeff Teague | Elfrid Payton |
| SG | Kyle Korver | Victor Oladipo |
| SF | DeMarre Carroll | Tobias Harris |
| PF | Paul Millsap | Dewayne Dedmon |
| C | Al Horford | Nikola Vucevic |
*Hawks SF Thabo Sefolosha (calf) will play
Indiana Pacers at Washington Wizards, 7 p.m. ET
| Position | Pacers | Hornets |
|---|---|---|
| PG | George Hill | John Wall |
| SG | C.J. Miles | Bradley Beal |
| SF | Solomon Hill | Paul Pierce |
| PF | David West | Nene Hilario |
| C | Roy Hibbert | Marcin Gortat |
*Pacers G Rodney Stuckey (calf) will not play
Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors, 7 p.m. ET
| Position | Bulls | Raptors |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Aaron Brooks | Greivis Vasquez |
| SG | Jimmy Butler | DeMar DeRozan |
| SF | Mike Dunleavy | Terrence Ross |
| PF | Pau Gasol | Amir Johnson |
| C | Joakim Noah | Jonas Valanciunas |
*Raptors PG Kyle Lowry (back) will not play
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET
| Position | Heat | Celtics |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Goran Dragic | Marcus Smart |
| SG | Mario Chalmers | Avery Bradley |
| SF | Luol Deng | Evan Turner |
| PF | Henry Walker | Brandon Bass |
| C | Udonis Haslem | Tyler Zeller |
*Heat C Chris Andersen (calf) will not play
*Heat C Hassan Whiteside (hand), SG Dwyane Wade (knee) will not play
Cleveland Cavaliers at Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET
| Position | Cavaliers | Grizzlies |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Kyrie Irving | Mike Conley |
| SG | J.R. Smith | Courtney Lee |
| SF | LeBron James | Tony Allen |
| PF | Kevin Love | Zach Randolph |
| C | Timofey Mozgov | Marc Gasol |
*Grizzlies SG Courtney Lee (hand) will play
Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 p.m. ET
| Position | Lakers | Timberwolves |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Jeremy Lin | Zach LaVine |
| SG | Jordan Clarkson | Lorenzo Brown |
| SF | Wesley Johnson | Andrew Wiggins |
| PF | Ryan Kelly | Adreian Payne |
| C | Tarik Black | Gorgui Dieng |
*Timberwolves C Nikola Pekovic (ankle), PF Kevin Garnett (knee), PG Ricky Rubio (ankle) will not play; G Gary Neal (illness) doubtful; SG Kevin Martin (hamstring), C Justin Hamilton (head) available
Houston Rockets at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
| Position | Rockets | Pelicans |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Jason Terry | Tyreke Evans |
| SG | James Harden | Eric Gordon |
| SF | Trevor Ariza | Quincy Pondexter |
| PF | Donatas Motiejunas | Anthony Davis |
| C | Dwight Howard | Omer Asik |
*Rockets PG Patrick Beverley (wrist) will not play
*Rockets C Dwight Howard (knee) will return from 26-game absence
*Pelicans C Omer Asik (calf), G Tyreke Evans (ankle) will play
Philadelphia 76ers at Denver Nuggets, 9 p.m. ET
| Position | 76ers | Nuggets |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Ish Smith | Ty Lawson |
| SG | Jason Richardson | Randy Foye |
| SF | JaKarr Sampson | Danilo Gallinari |
| PF | Jerami Grant | Wilson Chandler |
| C | Nerlens Noel | Kenneh Faried |
*76ers F Luc Mbah a Moute (shoulder) will not play
*Nuggets F Darrell Arthur (calf) will not play
Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz, 9 p.m. ET
| Position | Trail Blazers | Jazz |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Damian Lillard | Dante Exum |
| SG | Arron Afflalo | Trey Burke |
| SF | Allen Crabbe | Elijah Millsap |
| PF | LaMarcus Aldridge | Derrick Favors |
| C | Robin Lopez | Rudy Gobert |
*Trail Blazers C Chris Kaman (shoulder) will not play
*Trail Blazers PF LaMarcus Aldridge (finger), SF Nicolas Batum (back) will play
*Jazz SG Rodney Hood (illness) will not play
*Jazz SF Gordon Hayward (shoulder) will not play
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 p.m. ET
| Position | Thunder | Spurs |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Russell Westbrook | Tony Parker |
| SG | Dion Waiters | Danny Green |
| SF | Kyle Singler | Kawhi Leonard |
| PF | Enes Kanter | Tim Duncan |
| C | Steven Adams | Tiago Splitter |
*Spurs C Aron Baynes (ankle) will not play
Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns, 10 p.m. ET
| Position | Kings | Suns |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Ray McCallum | Eric Bledsoe |
| SG | Ben McLemore | P.J. Tucker |
| SF | Omri Casspi | Marcus Morris |
| PF | Rudy Gay | Markieff Morris |
| C | DeMarcus Cousins | Alex Len |
*Suns G Brandon Knight (ankle) will not play
*Suns SG Marcus Thornton (toe) is doubtful