3 things for Rockets fans to watch on the NBA's MLK Day slate

On Monday, the NBA will have a bevy of games, as the league continues its annual celebration of the honorable Martin Luther King Jr., who was born on January 15th, 1929 and tragically lost his life on April 4th, 1968, when he was gunned down on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

The league has 11 games in total, which are all chronicled below.

-Houston Rockets at Philadelphia Sixers (12 p.m. CST on NBA TV)
-New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks (1:30 p.m. CST)
-Orlando Magic at New York Knicks (2 p.m. CST)
-Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards (2 p.m. CST)
-San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks (2:30 p.m. CST on TNT)
-Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies (5 p.m. CST on TNT)
-Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers (6 p.m. CST)
-Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets (6:30 p.m. CST)
-Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors (6:30 p.m. CST)
-Indiana Pacers at Utah Jazz (8 p.m. CST)
-Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers (9:30 p.m. CST on NBA TV)

Two games will be aired on TNT, while two other games will be aired on NBATV. One of the two NBATV games involves your very own Houston Rockets, who are 19-19, and will face the 24-13 Philadelphia 76ers for the second time in 17 days.

3. Will the Houston Rockets be able to revenge in rematch vs Sixers?

In the last matchup, the Rockets lost 131-127, after holding a 97-90 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Sixers outscored the Rockets 41-30 in the final period and were beneficiaries of a late-game meltdown with 11.8 seconds remaining, in which Jock Landale ultimately took the final shot and missed the lay-up. 

The Rockets didn't have Dillon Brooks and the Sixers didn't have Joel Embiid, so Monday's game will look much different, as Brooks returned to gameplay on Saturday, although it's unclear if Embiid will suit up.

2. Other notable matchups around the league

As for the other games, the game of the day in the Western Conference looks to be the 24-16 Pelicans vs the 23-17 Mavs, in a matchup between the sixth-best team in the West and the seventh-best team in the conference. In the Eastern Conference, the game of the day figures to be the 21-18 Magic vs the 23-16 Knicks, which is a matchup between the eighth-seeded Magic and the sixth-seeded Knicks.

The Grizzlies vs Warriors matchup seemed to have potential prior to the start of the season, however poor play by the Dubs and injuries to the Grizzlies (most notably Ja Morant) have easily made that one of the more disappointing matchups, outside of the 3-36 Pistons vs the 7-31 Wizards.

1. Potentially intriguing matchup

The Lakers-Thunder game is the final match of the day and could be a good game, as the 19-21 Lakers desperately need to turn their season around and are playing the 27-11 Thunder at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It remains to be seen whether LeBron James will be in uniform, as he missed Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz with an ankle injury.

All in all, MLK Day should be a great day of sports, as there will also be two NFL playoff games (Pittsburgh Steelers vs Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers).