NBA League Pass Featured Matchup: Rockets Face off Against Spurs (8:30 ET)

Here are five things to know about the highly-anticipated all-Texas matchup between two up-and-coming NBA teams that are centered around their promising young talent. The game will tip off at 8:30 ET and will be available for viewing on NBA League Pass.

Wembanyama: Do you need to be sold on seeing Victor Wembenyama in action? He was arguably the most exciting rookie since LeBron James last season, and then he was a star at the Paris Olympics this summer. What will he do for an encore? Kia Defensive Player of the Year? Dare Spurs fans dream … Kia MVP? Check out our latest feature on Victor Wembanyama as we preview what could be an incredible follow-up to his stellar rookie season.Houston’s playoff push: After a few seasons in the wilderness, the Rockets got serious about winning last season. They added veteran free agents, hired Ime Udoka as the new head coach, and saw it all pay off. While Houston missed the Emirates NBA Cup, the team went from 22-60 to 41-41. The next step? The postseason. And an opening loss against Charlotte should have lit a fire under the Rockets.CP3’s San Antonio debut: Chris Paul is an inner-circle Hall of Famer. He’s third in career assists and career steals. After a few years of chasing an elusive ring, CP3 now assumes a different role on an ascending team. The 39-year-old signed with the Spurs, a rising team that has a ways to go before it competes for a title. Paul will seemingly spend the end of his career doling out alley-oops to Wembenyama. Enjoy it.Will Reed Sheppard win Kia Rookie of the Year?: A lot of the statistical models saw Sheppard as the best prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft. The way he looked at NBA Summer League did nothing to assuage that. Hype trains on young players can get derailed quickly, though. How Sheppard comes out of the gate will begin to shape the narrative, and a lot of League Pass eyes will be on this game to see Wemby. He’s coming off the bench and fighting for minutes, but he showed at Kentucky he can be a microwave scorer in that role.Big opportunity for Alperen Sengun: There may not be a more intimidating matchup for an opposing big man than facing Victor Wembanyama. Sengun will draw that matchup Saturday. He was incredibly impressive in the opener when he notched 25 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the win over the Hornets. He’s coming off a breakout campaign last season in which he upped his scoring average from 14.8 points per game to 21.1 points per game to go with 9.3 rebounds per game. His ability to keep Wembanyama in check will be critical.