The NBL Live crew will be in Hemel for the top-four clash between leaders Storm and Derby Trailblazers, with four other games taking place on Saturday plus one more on Sunday.
Basketball England has invited all clubs with teams participating in the NBL, WNBL, Jnr. NBL this weekend (8/9 February 2025) to hold a minute’s silence to pay respects five cherished individuals from the basketball community who have passed away recently.
Makyle Bayley, 22, Eva Darold-Tchikaya, 21, TJ Hibbert, 24 and Daljang 'DJ' Wol, 22 of Essex University died in a road accident last weekend. Idryck Wilkinson of Brixton Topcats and formerly Itchen College Basketball Academy also passed away recently.
The NBL Live cameras are in for a treat on Saturday as reigning regular-season champs Derby Trailblazers head to current leaders Hemel Storm.
Derby's D1M defence is all but over after recent losses to Nottingham and Reading, but the Midlanders still possess plenty of quality on their roster as they aim to lock up a top-four spot.
That would provide the Trailblazers with a home playoff tie to open the post-season, but tomorrow's opponents Hemel still have loftier goals in their sights.
Currently unbeaten leaders, a first D1M league title since 2022/23 can be theirs if they can continue their current pace. That said, two of Hemel's three league wins in 2025 have been by single digits, suggesting D1M might be catching up to the pace setters.
Storm claimed a 91-74 victory when these teams last met in late November, with Derby following that defeat up with another against Milton Keynes as their campaign began to go astray.
Matt Ellis top scored for Hemel that day with 28 points, and after being included in the latest D1M Team of the Week for his outing against Birmingham, the Canadian forward is a man who remains in prime form.
Ellis is Hemel's leading scorer with 19.3PPG, sixth-best in D1M, with Darien Nelson-Henry (16.3PPG), Tra'Michael Moton (15.2PPG) and Veron Ese (12.3PPG) all doing their bit as well.
Point guard Sam Newman (12.0PPG, 8.4APG) continues to lead D1M in assists and has run the Hemel offence at a high level all season long, including last time out against the Rockets with seven more dimes.
Derby continue to miss long-term injury doubt Leighton Elliott-Sewell, who averaged a team-high 29 minutes per game before he bowed out. His 19.6PPG have been tough to replace, with captain Malcolm Smith (17.8PPG), David Simental (15.6PPG) and Jonas Dieterich (14.3PPG) all picking up the slack.
Guard Kyle Jimenez is yet to truly shine in his new surroundings after signing from Caledonia Gladiators last month, though the former Loughborough man is undoubtedly a match-winner on his day.
You can catch all the action from 7pm on Saturday night, with John Hobbs and co. hosting the game over on the Basketball England YouTube channel.
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The weekend begins with relegation-threatened Newcastle Knights (4-11) hosting London Cavaliers (7-7).
Recent wins for Bradford, Nottingham and Worthing have come at a bad time for the North East side, who have won just once in their last four outings. With London scrapping hard to stay in the playoffs, Saturday's contest won't be an easy one, either.
Another team locked into D1M's midtable battle is Milton Keynes Breakers (8-6). They'll try and cool off Nottingham Hoods (4-11), who have won two of their last three in a bid to climb up the D1M standings.
After threatening a push for the top four earlier this season, Bristol Hurricanes (7-7) have won two of their last six to slip back down the table.
Daniel Edozie remains D1M's top rebounder at 12.6RPG, and he'll need more of that production to help the Hurricanes past Worthing Thunder (3-12).
That just leaves Loughborough Riders' (10-6) home clash with City of Birmingham Rockets (6-10) to round out Saturday's action.
The Riders have dropped games against Worthing and Bradford twice in 2025 as they've struggled against teams currently outside the playoff picture.
The 2017/18 champs will hope to turn that trend around this weekend against a Rockets side currently two points off the eighth and final post-season spot.
That just leaves second-place Reading Rockets (12-3) to host Sunday's only game as Bradford Dragons (3-11) make the trip to Lodden Valley.
The Rockets have only lost to Hemel on their own court this season, making Bradford's plight a tough one as they to keep their recent resurgence going.
2pm - Newcastle Knights vs London Cavaliers - LIVE STATS
5pm - Milton Keynes Breakers vs Nottingham Hoods - LIVE STATS / TICKETS
5:30pm - Bristol Hurricanes vs Worthing Thunder - LIVE STATS / TICKETS
6pm - Loughborough Riders vs City of Birmingham Rockets - LIVE STATS / TICKETS / LIVE STREAM
7pm - Hemel Storm vs Derby Trailblazers - LIVE STATS / TICKETS / LIVE STREAM
4pm - Reading Rockets vs Bradford Dragons - LIVE STATS / TICKETS
Live stream details will be added as they become available
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Main image credit - Nick Higgins
