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The East’s best team and one of the East’s best young teams meet in a potential preview of the playoffs on Friday night, as the Cleveland Cavaliers travels to the BMO Harris Bradley Center to take on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tip is scheduled for about 7:15 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Those with a cable subscription can watch the game online via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app, but if you’ve cut the cable cord, you can still watch a legal live stream for free via one of the following services:
DirecTV Now: All four channel packages include ESPN
Sling TV: The “Sling Orange” channel package include ESPN
PlayStation Vue: All four channel packages include ESPN
Each of the above services include a free trial, so you can watch tonight’s game at no cost.
Projected Cavaliers Starting Lineup
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| PG | Derrick Rose |
| SG | Dwyane Wade |
| SF | LeBron James |
| PF | Jae Crowder |
| C | Kevin Love |
Projected Bucks Starting Lineup
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| PG | Malcolm Brogdon |
| SG | Tony Snell |
| SF | Khris Middleton |
| PF | Giannis Antetokounmpo |
| C | Thon Maker |
Preview
It’s the past and present vs. the future and also present.
LeBron James, obviously, has owned the NBA to varying degrees over the last decade-plus. And while he’s certainly still playing at a Top-3-in-the-NBA level, he’s reign as the East’s best player is quickly being challenged by 23-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“The Greek Freak, I think, is a force. I’ve never seen anything like him,” said Kevin Durant about the Bucks young superstar. “His ceiling is probably … he could end up being the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That’s pretty scary to think about. He’s by far my most favorite player to watch.”
After a monstrous 2016-17 campaign in which he finished seventh in MVP voting, Antetokounmpo started off this season with 37 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals, willing his team to a victory on the road against the Boston Celtics.
There are obviously plenty of things to watch during this game, but James vs. Antetokounmpo is undoubtedly the reason it’s on ESPN. And certainly the No. 1 reason you should be watching.
